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THE 



ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD, 



AN 



ILLYRIAN TALE 



BY 



AN EX-OFFICER 

OF THE BRITISH COMMISSARIAT. 



LONDON: 
BLACK AND ARMSTRONG, 

FOREIGN BOOKSELLERS TO HER MAJESTY, TO THE QUEEN DOWAGER, 
AND TO H.R. H. PRINCE ALBERT, 

8, WELLINGTON STREET (NORTH), STRAND. 
1841. 



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PR4U3 
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LONDON : 

PRINTED BY C. ROWORTH AND SONS, BELL YARD, 
TEMPLE BAR. 



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3 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS, 



WHOSE NAMES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED IN LONDON. 



COPIES. 

Her Majesty the Queen Dowager 10 



Alexander, Mrs 

Alexander, Miss C. M. 
Archer, Thomas, Esq. 



Bailey, Assistant-Commissary-General , 

Bailey, George, Esq 

Bartelett, Miss , 

Bethell, Mrs , 

Bethell, Miss 

Betts, Samuel, Esq r t , 

Blackwood, Mrs 

Boyd, C. M., Esq 

Bridges, Miss 

Browne, Mrs 

Brownrigg, Captain 

Brownrigg, Mrs 

Brownrigg, Miss ., 



Carpenter, Mr 

Charlton, Mrs 

Christopherson, H., Esq 

Clinton, Colonel F. (Grenadier Guards) 



IV LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 

Colquhoun, Chevalier, Minister of the Hanse Towns, 

Cowie, E., Esq 

Creed, C, Esq . , 

dimming, Deputy-Commissary-General , 



D'Aguilar, Lieutenant (Grenadier Guards) 

Daniel, Rev. E.J 

Davidson, Assistant-Commissary-General 

Dawkins, Clinton G., Esq, 

Drummond, Captain (Grenadier Guards). . 
DufT, William, Esq., Barrack Master .... 



E. B., per Reverend J. D. Glennie 

Engelbach, Charles, Esq 

Essex, Countess of 

Esterhazy, Prince 4 



Field, Deputy- Assistant-Commissary-General 
Fortur, Charles, Esq , 



Gedge, William, Esq 

Gore, Montague, Esq. . . * 

Grassett, Dr 

Green, Miss 

Green, Sir Andrew „ 

Greig, Mrs 

Grey, Honourable Captain George, (R. N.) 
Grote, Charles, Esq 



Hallett, James, Esq 

Harding, W. Charles, Esq. 

Harper, Mr. 

Harvey, Miss 

Hay, Captain William . . . 
Henderson, John, Esq. . . . 
Herries, Miss 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 



V 

COPIES. 



Hockley, Mrs 

Holmes, Mrs. A. Court 
Holt, E. C, Esq 



Ironside, Captain, Superintendent of Indian Affairs 



Jacob, William, Esq. . . . 
Jenkins, Mr. R 

Johnstone, George, Esq. 
Jones, H. Julius, Esq. . 



Kater, E., Esq 

Keightley, ArcRibald, Esq. 



Lake, E., Esq 

Lake, Mrs 

Lawrence, Ed., Esq 

Layton, Mrs 

Lee, Dr 

Leggatt, John, Esq., Assistant-Commissary-General 

Leslie, C. P., Esq 

Liddiard, Mr. William 

Liddiard, Mrs 

Lindsay, F., Esq 

Lopez, Mrs 

Lowe, General Sir Hudson 

Lundy, Mr. James Bell 



Mackie, Reverend J. W., A.M., F.R.S 

Major, Assistant-Commissary-General , 

Mangold, Charles, Esq , 

Monroe, Charles, Esq 

Morse, Deputy- Assistant-Commissary-General 

Nutt, Mr. 



VI LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 



Parish, Sir Woodbine. 

Paslow, Mr 

Pattison, James, Esq. . , 
Pattison, F., Esq. . . . 

Perkins, Miss 

Phillips, Mrs. George 
Priestley, W. H., Esq. 
Pritie, Samuel, Esq. . 



Ramsay, Miss 2 

Rayner, Charles, Esq., Assistant-Commissary-General .... 2 

Reynolds, E., Esq. (Royal Engineers) 

Rigby, Dr 

Risio, Captain Vincent (Royal Engineers) 

Robinson, W. Esq., Deputy-Assistant-Commissary-General 

Robinson, George, Esq. . . . « 

Rushworth, H., Esq 



Schade, Colonel (60th Rifles) 

Senior and Co., Messrs 

Seton, Miss 

Seton, Miss B 

Sherriff, Mr 

Shiel, Charles Henry, Esq 

Skerrett, Miss 

Smith, Captain H. N. (Royal Engineers) 

Smith, Mrs. Tringham 

Spearman, Sir Alexander 

Spottiswoode, Captain (Grenadier Guards) 

Strut, William W., Esq 

Strut, Rob. A., Esq 

Stuart, Honourable Miss F. . . 



Tupper, Mrs. ....... 

Turner, John, Esq. . . . 
Tyrrell, F. Esq. M.D. 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Vll 

COPIES. 

Ward, N. Esq 1 

Westminster, The Marchioness of 2 

Wingfield, Reverend W. F ... 1 

Wood, Mrs. Alexander 1 

Worthington, The Rev. Dr 1 

Ximines, Major-General Sir David 1 

Yeates, Dr. Holt 2 

Yeates, N., Esq 1 

Young, C. M., Esq 1 



THE 

ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

AN 1LLYRIAN TALE OF THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH 
CENTURIES. 



" Cosi all' egro fanciul porgiamo aspersi 
Di soave licor gli orli del vaso, 
Succhi amari ingannato ei beve, 
E dall' inganno suo vita riceve." 

Tasso, Canto primo. 

I was born in 1781 at Neustadtl, a small town of 
Illyria, in the province of Carniola, important 
for its position in a military point of view, and 
very agreeably situated on a sloping hill. It is 
watered on the south and east by the river Gerka, 
famous for its excellent shell-fish, while in the 
distance are dark forests; and immediately around 
the little town are groves, vineyards, and well 
cultivated hills, which afford very interesting 
views, particularly to the north-west. About 
eight English miles distance from this pretty 
retreat are the warm baths of Toplitza. I was 
eleven years of age when my parents determined 
upon sending me to school in my native town. 
My mother accompanied me thither, and as I was 



V 



Z THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

her only child, her parting with me was indeed a 
great trial for her. She recommended me never 
to forget her instructions, which she had so care- 
fully bestowed upon me; and recalled to my 
recollection my dear little brother, who died at 
the age of seven years. Never shall I forget our 
frequent rambles. She was fond of retirement; 
and taking our little hands, would walk with us 
morning and evening, either in the garden, or in 
some of the adjoining groves, and there she took 
care to draw our attention to the beauties of the 
animal and vegetable creation; very entertaining 
were the observations which those objects of 
nature so copiously called forth : they in fact 
remained so deeply impressed in my mind, that 
whenever I am reading any thing of the kind in 
our modern works, the association of ideas often 
recalls to my memory, the sweet and tender ac- 
cents which I was wont to hear from the lips of 
her who had lavished so many cares on me, and 
who on parting with me, uttered these words as 
she pressed me to her breaking heart, " My dear 
boy, I fear I shall never see you again in this 
world." Alas! she was but too correct; for two 
months afterwards a severe illness suddenly hur- 
ried her. to the tomb. I continued at the college ; 
when at the end of the first year of ,my studies my 
father came to fetch me home for the vacation, 
and was accompanied by his second wife, now my 
stepmother ; she received me at first very kindly 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 6 

and made me a present of a silver watch, with 
which I was much pleased ; the next morning 
we started for Sechof, our country seat, likewise 
situated on the river Gerka : but the land around 
it is very low, and presents a plain of sixteen 
miles in length and twelve in breadth. On our 
arrival at home, it is impossible to describe what I 
felt when I came to the well-remembered haunts 
of my childhood, where I used to beguile so 
many innocent and happy hours in company 
with my poor mother. I gazed with a tearful eye 
on the shrubs, many of which were planted by 
her own dear hand; and unconsciously, in passing 
through one of the rooms, raised my eyes to the 
wardrobe, where she once playfully hid herself, 
half expecting to see her form. Eight days after 
our arrival my stepmother passing by, saw me 
with the watch in my hand, and, snatching it 
from me, gave me a sound box on the ear, telling 
me angrily, that I did not know how to take care 
of it; and, to my surprise, T never saw it again. 
From that period my sufferings commenced. In 
the evening she made me sit up till ten o'clock at 
night, and as I was accustomed to go early to 
bed, I began to be drowsy about that time, and 
could not help falling asleep on my chair. Then 
my stepmother would seize me by the hair and 
drag me about the room, until I became quite 
awake ; this however she never did when my 
father was present. It is worth while observing, 

b2 



4 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

that my stepmother originally married a widower 
with six children, who had been as badly treated 
as myself, so that her first husband apparently 
died of a broken heart. One of these children 
(a boy) assured me, that amongst other cruelties, 
which she practised on them, was that of shut- 
ting them up in a cold room for a whole day, 
without fire, food, or drink in the depth of winter, 
so that they used to allay their thirst by sucking 
the icicles which hung from the windows : she 
had three more husbands after the death of my 
poor father : I never was shut up by her, but I 
suffered many other privations. In the autumn 
I was obliged to gather a basketful of acorns 
every morning before breakfast ; she made me also 
carry large baskets on my head full of provisions 
and other articles to her mother, who lived some 
distance from our home on the other side of the 
river Sava, at a place called Lichtnagora. This 
kind of life lasted during all my vacations, so 
that I longed for the moment when I returned 
to school. The inundations of the river Gerka 
during three successive years, caused a great deal 
of damage to my father's property from which he 
never recovered, on account of bad management 
my stepmother showed in her household arrange- 
ments. Her only care seemed to be sending 
things to her parents in Lichtuagora. 

As she did not like me to continue my studies, 
she soon prevailed on my poor father (whose 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. O 

spirits began to droop) to keep me at home, 
which was a severe blow to me ; I was then in 
my fourteenth year. It was the same year, about 
the middle of November, when my father had 
gone to buy some horses in Transylvania, that my 
stepmother requested me, about seven o'clock in 
the morning, to take off my shoes and stockings 
and go and relieve the cowherd in the meadow 
until his return, as she wanted to send him on 
an errand. The morning was bleak and the frost 
lay thick on the ground. I made my way in the 
best manner I could to the meadow and delivered 
my message to the cowherd, who, surprised to 
see me barefooted, gave me a look of compassion, 
and left me to perform his mistress's commands. 
As soon as I was left alone, overpowered by the 
bitter cold I suffered from in my feet, I burst into 
a flood of tears, and called upon the name of my 
poor mother : Alas ! not even an echo answered 
my calls in those fatal plains ; I call them fatal, 
because on them I lost my parents, without 
any one being left to whom I could tell my 
sufferings. 

On the return of my father from Transylvania, 
my stepmother, fearing perhaps that her cruel 
behaviour to me might reach his ears, gave him 
so bad an account of my conduct, that I was 
severely chastised for her sake ; yet I did not 
dare complain. The year following, in the month 
of January, when the snow lay from three to four 



b THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

feet deep on the ground, my stepmother sent 
me with a message in the dead of night to a 
neighbouring village, about a good English mile 
distance from our residence. The night was dark, 
and wolves were known to prowl about. I obeyed, 
being quite unconscious of the danger to which 
I was exposed ; there was no path, and I was 
obliged to make my way through the snow in the 
best manner that I was able. The person to 
whom I brought the message was actually alarmed 
to see me at that time of night, and allowed one 
of his men to accompany me some way back 
towards my home, where I arrived about mid- 
night, perfectly exhausted. I could fill volumes 
in relating all the sufferings and privations which 
came to my share, owing merely to the ill-will 
of my stepmother. It was about that time that 
I began to reflect seriously on my sad situation, 
and I felt myself roused, on comparing my con- 
dition with those of my school-fellows passing 
merrily by, as they went back to Novogorod to 
continue their studies. Those who have been at 
school, can only tell what feelings are excited 
when the mind recals those innocent, and per- 
haps happiest, moments of our lives. One Sun- 
day, when my father was gone to church in a 
neighbouring town, about noon my stepmother 
sat down to dinner with a rich farmer's wife ; I 
was not allowed to come to table, but was seated 
on my poor father's iron chest (which by that 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 7 

time was but a useless appendage to the room), 
eating sour krout and gnawing some brown bread 
made of buck-wheat, while she and her friend 
were regaling themselves with a roasted capon 
and drinking excellent wine. My looking at them 
too attentively, displeased my stepmother, and to 
get rid of my presence she bid me go and buy 
some sugar at a village, an hour's walk from our 
house ; I said, that I would go, and begged her 
to give me a glass of wine ; she replied, that I 
was to go first and fetch the sugar, and that she 
would give it to me on my return. I was then in 
my fifteenth year, and felt at last indignant at 
being so treated ; it was the first time that I 
disobeyed her orders, and I told her that I would 
not go. She flew at me immediately, and seized 
me by the hair ; but this time I was wide awake, 
and I felt myself strong enough to keep her off, 
and taking hold of her collar, kept her hands 
from my head ; then a most desperate struggle 
ensued between us ; of course I never thought of 
striking her, and only defended myself as well as 
I could against her blows, thinking, at the same 
time, by which way I could best make a safe 
retreat before my strength was exhausted, be- 
cause I could expect no mercy if once over- 
powered by her. With that intention I moved 
towards the door that led into the hall, in which 
were several stoves, and close by lay some long 



8 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

pieces of fuel, which my antagonist seized to 
strike me with, but as I always had my eyes on 
her hands, I had strength enough to wrest the 
pieces from her, as fast as she took them up. I 
gradually approached the staircase, where, for- 
tunately for me, no fuel lay within her reach ; 
I then suddenly disengaged myself from her, and 
making two steps back, threw the money at her 
feet, and ran down the stairs, which were very 
long and steep. I was within a few steps of the 
bottom, when I heard an immense large log of 
wood rolling after me ; I cleared the remaining 
steps in one jump and saved myself from sure 
destruction, and took shelter in a peasant's house, 
who, knowing me, sympathised in my sufferings, 
and treated me very kindly. My father came 
home towards the evening, and being informed 
by a faithful servant of what had happened, sent 
for me, and received me with much emotion. 
He asked me what had been the matter with me ; 
but in reply, I entreated him with tears in my 
eyes to allow me to write to one of my professors 
at Novogorod, and to solicit his kind office in 
obtaining for me a tutorship, and thus to enable 
me to finish my classical studies. To this pro- 
posal my father readily consented, and early the 
next morning his faithful servant was sent with 
my letter to Novogorod, and returned with an 
answer the same day. My good friend, Professor 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 9 

Augustin, wrote to me to come immediately to 
that city, and that he would provide for me. 
My father, having read the letter, gave orders to 
prepare every thing for my departure early the 
next morning. It is impossible to describe the plea- 
sure I felt at such news. My father was happy 
to see me returning to my studies, and giving me 
his benediction, I joyfully started for Novogorod. 
As I w r ent along I was in a continued reverie ; 
now I thought how kindly I should be received 
by my professors ; then I fancied myself in the 
midst of my school-fellows, in whose company 
I thought I should forget all my bitter sufferings. 
About ten o'clock, I arrived at Novogorod ; my 
friend Augustin received me very cordially, and 
told me that he had found a tutorship for me ; 
that same day I was accordingly introduced, and 
thus continued my studies for two years, until 
I had finished my classical course. 

By the end of the two years, having finished 
my studies, my father sent me to his cousin 
Pouur, in Brinie or Stranigorod, two hour's jour- 
ney from Lublana, the capital of the province of 
Carniola, in Illyria, where I was to continue my 
studies and finish my education. My cousin 
Pouur and his mother received me with paternal 
affection ; never shall I forget their kind treat- 
ment. Mr. Pouur interested himself at Lublana 
with a clergyman and got me a tutorship, in 



10 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

which situation I remained one year, and finished 
my philosophical course. But I had no longer 
my good professors of Novogorod to watch over 
me and to give me their advice. I was there 
ushered into the great college unknown to any 
one. The professor seemed to be a very clever 
person, but quite a man of the world, and I bade 
adieu to those sincere and friendly countenances 
which I was wont to behold. Thus was I sud- 
denly without friends, and only amongst strangers. 
It was indeed a period of the greatest moment to 
me, for I was thus thrown upon my own resources 
at seventeen years of age. I do not know how it 
happened, but I was singled out by two or three 
wild companions, who insinuated themselves into 
my society ; I was ignorant of their designs, and 
was rather flattered by their noticing me. I can 
only say that, thanks to the principles which my 
beloved mother instilled into my heart during my 
tender years, and through the mercy of Provi- 
dence, I escaped as well as I did ; yet that short 
but sad connexion materially checked my progress. 

In 1799, Mr. Pouur came to fetch me for the 
Christmas holidays, and just when we left town, 
he handed me the following letter from my poor 
father : it ran thus : — 

" My dear Louis, 

" By the time you will receive this letter 
I shall no longer be amongst the living. The 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 1 1 

Almighty has given me grace to see you complete 
your necessary classical studies ; and now, my 
dear son, that you are alone, you must exert 
yourself. Trust in God's mercies, and never 
neglect his precepts. How fortunate for you 
that you have obeyed your masters ! Be regular 
and punctual in all your transactions in life, and 
never deviate from the truth : depend upon it 
that you will never be forsaken, and kind Provi- 
dence will bless you. Remember me in your 
prayers. Receive, my dear boy, my blessing, 
being the last and only gift I can now bestow 
upon you. 

Your ever affectionate Father, 

{Signed) F. X. Donatti. 

(Dated) Drascovich, 4th December, 1799. 

After reading the letter T burst into a flood of 
tears. Mr. Pouur allowed me to give vent to 
my grief; he mingled his tears with mine, and 
then taking me by the hand, did all he could to 
sooth me : his mother joined in his sympathy 
on our arrival at Brinie. I remained with them 
about ten days, and then returned again to my 
studies. At the end of the year, Mr. Pouur, who 
had observed that I was very fond of navigating 
up and down the little stream that glided gently 
by his residence, conceived the idea of speaking 
to his friend the clergyman at Lublana, to send me 



12 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

to some of the lllyrian sea-ports in the Adriatic 
to study navigation. The proposal was scarcely 
made, when it was put into execution, and I again 
prepared myself for departure. Mr. Pouur's 
family gave me letters of introduction and their 
blessing, and I left Brinie for the Adriatic Sea, 
which lies to the south-west of Lublana. 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 13 



SECOND NARRATION. 

Before I continue my narration, it is worth 
while to give a description of the country be- 
tween Lublana and the Adriatic Sea. After leav- 
ing this city, eight miles towards the Adriatic, 
you begin gradually to ascend gentle hills, when 
a sudden change in the prospect takes place ; 
instead of the eye wandering over fine meadows 
and fields, the country suddenly becomes wild 
and rocky. It opens first with the immense forest 
called Hrushkovagora, which communicates with 
the Turkish territories to the east ; on the north 
side of this forest are the famous quicksilver 
mines of Idria. On the other side of Postoyna 
the change is still more striking : a large tract of 
land opens to the view, consisting of hills and 
plains, covered with rocks, interspersed with 
green valleys, ravines and grottos, extending to 
the south and east, and to the very shores of the 
Adriatic Sea. Seven miles from Postoyna is the 
wonderful Lake of Cirknitz, about twenty-four 
miles in circumference. Wonderful, I call it, 
because regularly during the winter season a lake 
is formed in this spot which abounds in fish, and 
is visited by all kinds of sea-fowl. In summer 
the water disappears, and it then presents most 



14 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

luxuriant meadows and rich corn-fields, which 
attract the notice of many travellers. Close to 
Postoyna is the renowned grotto, which is now 
becoming every day more interesting, since the 
Austrian government have found it their interest 
to form an establishment of guides, who boldly 
accompany the traveller for many miles, and, 
aided by their torches and other necessaries, ex- 
plore its subterranean beauties.. They have lately 
built regular staircases, which lead from one vault 
into another, which are ornamented with most 
astonishing stalactites, presenting the forms of 
figures, columns, &c. The entrance to the grotto 
is almost in its primitive state, and very narrow, 
but after walking under ground about three hun- 
dred yards, at first the ear is struck by the noise 
of a subterranean waterfall, and advancing thirty 
yards further, about one hundred feet beneath, 
you behold at the bottom of the grotto a small 
river rolling its Stygian waters in an eastern di- 
rection. It is a grand and awful sight if suddenly 
presented to the traveller's eye, which depends in 
a great measure on the activity of the guides and 
torchbearers ; you then descend to the river, and 
along its banks view the different halls and vaults 
formed by nature, glittering with varied and 
grotesque forms. All the vaults at present ex- 
plored, have various names given to them, and 
may be visited without the least danger. The 
main road from Lublana to the Adriatic runs 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 15 

through the forest to Postoyna ; it had formerly 
been much frequented by strong bands of rob- 
bers, who eame from the borders of Turkey, so 
much so, that now and then several regiments 
were sent after them., but they always escaped 
their vigilance, favoured by the thickness of the 
forests. The Austrian government has lately cut 
down all the trees to the right and left of the 
road, to render the passage more secure ; yet 
almost every year, during the months of August 
and September, robbers still penetrate there from 
the confines of Turkish Croatia, and again escape 
while the trees are still covered with leaves. 
Laibach was formerly the capital of the duchy 
of Carniola, of Lower Austria, but after the late 
war was incorporated with the kingdom of Illyria. 
Carniola borders to the north on Carinshia, to 
the east on Stiria, to the south on Hungary and 
Istria, and to the west on the Adriatic Sea and 
Friuli. Large quantities of cattle are bred here, 
and there are abundant supplies of every kind of 
fruit, as well as plenty of game; for it is re- 
nowned for the larger kind of stag, and also 
bears, which come from European Turkey, and 
which afford a royal sport to the gentry and pea- 
sants of that country : it is indeed interesting 
to witness during those hunts the good under- 
standing between the upper and lower classes, 
who are invited by their lords to partake of 
those amusements, and which give a real zest 



16 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

to the sport. All the sportsmen have one com- 
mon repast, which all are allowed to attend : 
the lord is seated near his peasants, and per- 
haps next to his tailor or shoemaker, and al- 
though they are for a time equals, yet the 
nobles are honoured and respected by those pea- 
sants and tradesmen as much as in any other 
country ; nay, they are really beloved and adored 
by them. Almost every peasant and most of the 
tradespeople have their own plot of land and 
vineyard, and cultivate them with great cheer- 
fulness, because they know that their offspring 
will enjoy the fruit of their toils and cares. 

The capital of Carniola is very advantageously 
situated on the river Laibach, which falls into 
the Sava about six miles to the north, which 
latter river discharges itself into the Danube : 
it is navigable, though rapid, and keeps up 
the communication with Hungary and Servia. 
Corn, wine, skins and hemp are brought on that 
river from Hungary, the Bannat, Servia, &c, to 
Laibach, and from thence forwarded to Trieste. 
The main roads from Fiume, Trieste, Italy, Turkey 
and Hungary pass through Laibach to Vienna and 
other parts of Germany ; it is agreeably situated 
between woody hills ; its inhabitants are very in- 
dustrious, and fond of trading. The main roads 
leading to Trieste and Vienna are lined with 
comfortable farm-houses, which are all well 
stocked with horses and cattle for the transport 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOLIOD. 17 

of goods. The chief roads in that part of the 
country is one leading to Carinthia, to the Tyrol, 
and to Italy ; the other to Hungary and Turkey, 
by Carlstadt. The peasants speak a kind of Illy- 
rian, but amongst the gentry, German is the 
predominant language. The principal towns of 
Carniola are Laibach, Gorz or Gorice, Neustad/^ 
Landstrass, Mottling, Postoyna and Gurgfeld. The 
principal rivers are the Sava, the Gerka, the Lai- 
bach, and the Isonzo. The Gerka and the Laibach 
discharge themselves into the Sava. In the heart 
of Carniola is the county of Gotshe, the natives 
of which speak a kind of old German. They 
dress differently from the Carniolians ; wearing 
white round coats, long loose trousers, Quakers' 
hats, not unlike some Hungarians and Poles. 
They are the shrewdest and most active pedlars 
on the continent ; I really think they beat the 
Israelitish tribe in eloquence. It is not quite 
known from what part of Germany they have de- 
scended. The mountains called Gorianiz, stretch- 
ing out from the confluence of the Sava and 
Gerka towards Fiume, in the Adriatic, are con- 
sidered a very good military position against the 
invasion of the Turks and Russians. 

The Carniolians are fond of agriculture, and 
are very loth to quit their native land, but if 
they once conquer that feeling they become great 
travellers. The natives of Carniola generally 
wear round short jackets, and on Sundays and 

c 



18 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

in winter, a kind of pilot coat, without buttons or 
pockets, ornamented Quakers' hats, and long- 
boots and short breeches, not unlike the English 
post-boys. The women wear gold-embroidered 
caps, and above them fine large muslin handker- 
chiefs, which present a very curious appearance 
when many women are congregated together in 
the churches, contrasted with the men in their dark 
coffee-coloured coats, with their large Quakers' 
hats under their arms. The countrywomen are 
very fond of singing, and their songs are pleasing, 
swelling on the evening breeze, when the sun 
salutes with its departing rays the tops of the 
hills and mountains. On Sundays, after the 
church service is over, both men and women 
amuse themselves by dancing and singing; on 
returning home, the young peasants show their 
joy by huzzaing as loud as they can, and thus 
proclaim to the whole country what a truly 
happy company is returning home to meet the 
toils of the approaching day, which, echoing 
through the valleys and mountains, announces 
to the quiet dwellers and to the passing traveller 
what a truly happy and innocent race of peasants 
is living there. In my humble opinion, those 
innocent expressions of mirth are a pledge that 
their hearts are not entirely corrupted ; a truly 
perverse heart is an utter stranger to snch inno- 
cent amusements. Perhaps some grave persons 
living in affluence and ease, and with all their 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 19 

comforts about them, will say, " What a shame, 
on a Sabbath-day to dance and be merry instead 
of praising God;" but may I be allowed to ob- 
serve to such austere minds, that it is cruel to 
deprive the hard-working man of those innocent 
amusements when divine service is concluded : 
why may he not be allowed, after having been 
gaining his bread with the sweat of his brow for 
six days, in the cheerfulness of his heart to show 
his gratitude to the Almighty by innocent recrea- 
tions ? Are we not told that there is music and 
rejoicings in heaven ? and it cannot be a feeling- 
heart which does not sympathise with the inno- 
cent joys of the poor man. God sees our hearts, 
and that is a great comfort to a just and well- 
meaning soul. Moreover, are we not taught by 
our Apostle, Saint Paul, to be of good cheer, and 
whatever we undertake, to do it to the honour 
and glory of God ? and who will deny that well- 
disposed people being merry and praising God, 
their benefactor, with joyous and grateful hearts, 
are not perhaps more acceptable to the kindest 
and most merciful of all Fathers, than those who 
roll in affluence, reading their Bible and saying 
their prayers in their easy chairs under a bower 
in summer, or near a comfortable fireside in win- 
ter, and then grudge the poor labourer his mirth 
and relaxation on a Sunday ? " Thou shalt do no 
manner of work." Our Heavenly Father did not 
say thou shalt not be merry. Who knows whe- 

c2 



20 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

ther this constraint upon the amusements of the 
poor man does not ultimately create the germ of 
crime in him, which takes root and gradually 
ripens? and it is not improbable, that had the 
man been allowed to give himself up to some 
innocent recreation after the divine ceremonies 
were over, his inclinations to dwell upon evil 
would have been turned aside, and he would not 
have passed his time in a tap-room for hours to- 
gether to the misery of his fond wife and children, 
and thereby rendering himself and his family 
miserable in this world, and perhaps for eternity. 
The 1st of November, 1800, I arrived at Pos- 
tyana, or Adelsberg, where I was joined by a 
traveller who was going the same way. Just 
when we were quitting that town, he directed my 
attention to a small declivity to the north-west of 
the place ; saying " You see there a small open- 
ing in the rock, there is a most wonderful grotto, 
in which the man of the lake of Cirknitz, called 
' the Orphan of Novogorod,' has met with most 
extraordinary adventures." He then pointed to 
the east, and said " about ten miles from hence 
is the renowned lake Cirknitz, and of which no 
doubt you have read, but very likely you have 
not heard of the lamentable occurrence that took 
place there and led to the disclosure of a most 
extraordinary adventure of a gentleman, called 
' Aussitz, alias the Orphan of Novogorod,' which 
I am sure will be interesting to you." I instantly 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 21 

begged him to relate it to me, and he thus began : 
" In the time when the French were in posses- 
sion of Carniola, some French employes, who 
were stationed in the environs of Lake Cirknitz, 
went in the month of March, during a beautiful 
moonlight night, to watch the passage of wild 
ducks and geese. While they were thus occupied 
two of them saw a large object moving on the 
lake towards them, and they were instantly struck 
with the idea that it must be some huge otter, 
and after allowing it to approach within a few 
yards of their ambush they simultaneously fired 
at the moving object; but dreadful to relate, 
what was their alarm when they instantly heard 
the groans of a dying human being. One of the 
unlucky and terrified sportsmen jumped instantly 
into the lake and assisted the unfortunate being 
to come on shore, they carried him to a neigh- 
bouring cottage and gave the man all possible 
assistance ; the surgeon of the place was sent for 
instantly, and he stopped the wounds from bleed- 
ing, but declared that the man was mortally 
wounded, and that very little hopes of his reco- 
very were entertained. However, contrary to his 
own expectation, he saved his life, to the great 
consolation of the two unlucky sportsmen for the 
time being, during which the unfortunate man 
gave the following most extraordinary account of 
his travels and adventures. He said that his 
name was Aussitz, a native of the village of 



22 THE ORPHAN OF NOVGGOROD. 

Govitz, two miles from Novogorod, where he had 
completed his classical studies, and was appointed 
agent to the seniory of Reifnitz. One winters 
day he went to collect some arrears from his pea- 
sants on the skirts of the large forest called Birne- 
vald,orHrushkovagora; he succeeded in collecting 
some monies, and was on his way to the seniory, 
when, unfortunately for him, he went astray in 
the wood, was benighted there, and ultimately 
fell into the hands of two robbers, who took from 
him his horse and robbed him of all his money, 
and brought him captive into the grotto, which I 
have just alluded to ; and, to continue the story 
in his own words, he related as follows : The two 
robbers led me to the grotto of Postoyna, and 
made me enter into a small opening in a rock, 
where we walked on a few yards ; then one of the 
fellows struck a light and lighted two candles. I 
then could see their countenances. They were 
rather tall and robust, their features of a brown hue, 
with immense large mustacios. They were armed 
with long Turkish guns, a brace of pistols, and a 
large Janissary's knife. I heard them converse in 
Illyrian, and one of them observed that their 
chieftain would be pleased with me on account of 
my presence of mind, and because I understood 
their own language ; they told me to be of good 
cheer. Suddenly I heard a tremendous whistle ; 
they answered it with two loud whistles and a 
fainter one. We began to hear the sound of a 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 23 

waterfall, and shortly after saw several lights at 
a distance in a large vaulted place near the fall of 
a river. What was my surprise, when I per- 
ceived about twenty-four stout fellows, nearly all 
in the samaattire. They were just getting ready 
to quit the grotto, for which purpose three of 
them moved on in front, all armed as already de- 
scribed. They all had the appearance of having 
been once soldiers. Before they left that place, 
the chieftain told one of his companions to take me 
down to the river; I then thought indeed that it 
would be my last moment, and my limbs almost 
refused to support me. The chieftain tapped me 
upon the shoulder, and said ' Neboyse, mladitch ;' 
* Do not be afraid, young man.' My guide then 
took a candle and began to descend a rope ladder, 
desiring that I would follow him ; there was a 
light at the foot of the ladder, and I now saw 
and heard very plainly a rivulet to the left of it, 
in a very spacious hollow; he showed me a large 
depot of all manner of stores and provisions, 
smoked sausages, tongues, hams, bacon, brown 
and white bread, kegs of wine and brandy, cheese, 
raisins, and a large heap of candles ; also ropes, 
carpenters' instruments, nails, hammers, saws, 
together with some blankets, and bear and wolf 
skins ; he then gave me a glass of wine, and told 
me to eat as much as I pleased, and that I could 
sleep on one of the bear skins. I again heard 
a whistle ; my guide said again ' Noboyse, brate,' 



24 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

6 Be not afraid, brother,' and hastened up the rope 
ladder, which he afterwards hoisted up. I ate a 
little, and drank the glass of wine, and laid my- 
self down quietly ; not to be in the dark, I let 
the candle burn, but I could not sleep. Yet I lay 
still, ruminating on what was to become of me ; 
the murmur of the river was a kind of companion 
to me, and as it rolled along pretty fast, it occurred 
to me that there must be an issue to this river, so 
that if I could not succeed in escaping above, I 
might perhaps try it by following the river's 
course; but that was merely an idea: and many 
things were to be ascertained previous to my at- 
tempt, which I purposed to do as soon as I could. 
It must have been about four o'clock in the 
morning when I heard the same whistling, and 
in about a quarter of an hour afterwards I saw the 
same party descending, and, saluting me in a very 
friendly manner, told me to follow them. We 
walked a few yards along the banks of the river, 
and then crossed it on some planks about eigh- 
teen feet long by a foot broad, which were se- 
cured together by ropes and large iron nails. 
They were enabled to move this bridge back- 
wards and forwards. After crossing the river, 
we came into a spacious hall, which they called 
' Krall Mathias's Hall,' which now-a-days is used 
as a ball room every Whitsunday, to the great 
amusement of hundreds of visitors ; in this hall 
they lighted a fire with long thin chips, which 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 25 

scarcely caused any smoke, and were thus en- 
abled to boil some eggs, and broil some sausages, 
which they heartily enjoyed. Some drank wine, 
and some brandy, and then laid down upon their 
bear skins, and covered themselves with their 
cloaks. From their conversation I perceived that 
they were all Turkish subjects, but of the Greek 
religion. After having thus reposed, they again 
ate and drank a little, and went up the rope 
ladder, and told me that I should make a fine 
janissary, and that they would take me to the 
commandant of Cetin, a Turkish fortress, in the 
course of a few weeks, but for the present I must 
stay where I was ; they allowed me to range 
about as much as I chose in the lower part of the 
grotto. I remained there for a week, during 
which time I was continually exploring the vari- 
ous vaults and hollows of that singular grotto. 
One day when I was washing my feet in the 
river, which in some parts was about three feet 
deep, I felt something playing about my feet, 
and holding the candle to it, I saw a vast quan- 
tity of long animals, not unlike small eels, moving 
busily in the water, and succeeded in catching 
some with my hands ; but on seeing that they had 
small heads similar to that of a man, with two 
feet or rather hands with which they got hold of 
my fingers, I soon flung them back into the 
water. Their bodies were darkish and as slippery 
as eels, their heads and hands of flesh colour; 



26 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

they certainly looked disgusting, yet. I thought 
they might make excellent food in time of need. 
I shoved, one day, the moveable bridge into the 
middle of the river, and found that I could pro- 
ceed a pretty good distance downwards, but that 
the further I went the more rapid the stream be- 
came. The next day I determined to risk my 
excursion a little further upon the planks, and I 
found that they bore me very well. The third 
day I made a rather longer excursion. It was 
about the ninth day of my confinement that I 
embarked upon those planks and continued my 
way for a good half hour, when I began to feel 
alarmed at the increased velocity of the stream ; 
I had in fact great trouble to return. By that 
time I had become so bold in my subterraneous 
excursions, that I determined upon making my 
escape on the river, whatever might be my fate. 
I accordingly floated the bridge, knocked in 
several large nails, and fastened to them all 
such articles as I thought fit to take with me. 
Amongst other things I took a hatchet, two ham- 
mers, large iron nails, two large pruning knives, 
some pieces of rope, several bunches of tallow 
candles, tinder and flints, and several bundles of 
matches, which I placed into a small jar and 
corked it quite tight, together with a barrel of 
dried figs and a bear skin. I took care to fasten 
every thing in such a manner that in case of 
striking against a rock nothing might start from 



THE ORPHAN OF XOVOGOROD. 27 

its place. I lighted two candles, one ahead and 
the other astern of my floating bridge, recom- 
mended myself to God, and shoved off with a 
determination to escape dead or alive from my 
horrible confinement. On the eleventh day of 
my captivity, three hours after the robbers had 
left the grotto, I started, rigged out as already 
stated. The first twelve hours I had occasionally 
some trouble to push my bridge forward, by 
which time I found the bed of the river to have 
increased to four feet in depth, and it carried me 
along at a tremendous rate. The supposed eels 
became considerably larger and tamer, some of 
them ventured to crawl on the planks, but I 
cut them in two with my pruning knife, and 
tasted their flesh, which was much like that of 
eels, and fed upon them whenever I could get 
any. It was the sixth day of my leaving the 
grotto w r hen I observed that the river was no 
longer so rapid, and that the vault above had 
considerably lowered, which made me feel fear- 
ful of some sudden change, since I began to hear 
distinctly a waterfall, and in less than ten minutes 
after, I felt the bridge giving a plunge, and it 
remained with me for nearly one minute under 
water. I fortunately held fast to the rope which 
kept the planks together and thus saved myself 
from being washed off. As soon as I felt myself 
safe again, I groped along for the tinder jar which 
I had fastened to the large nail, with the candles, 



28 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

and fortunately I found it well corked and quite 
dry. I lighted again the candles, and what was 
my surprise when I saw myself in deep water, 
still moving on very rapidly. That plunge had, 
however, cost me the loss of the bear skin and a 
few trifling articles ; the monster eels had entirely 
disappeared, but instead of them I began to see 
all kind of figures on the surface of the water, 
which seemed to be in great fear of my burning 
candles, and I really think I owe my safety to 
the lights, as otherwise I should have been most 
likely devoured by them. Seven days after the 
plunging I began to hear, about midnight, tre- 
mendous cracks like those of whips of the Spanish 
and Italian couriers, or rather those of sledgers 
in Germany, accompanied by awfully shrilling 
whistles; my hair bristled, a cold sweat ran over 
my whole frame ; first I thought that the robbers 
were in pursuit of me, but that fear soon sub- 
sided, since, on one occasion, I heard immedi- 
ately after the first three cracks a great and 
sudden splash in the water on the right side of 
the river, which was followed by some thousands 
of wood rats swimming across, apparently in 
great terror, grinding their teeth as they hur- 
ried along to the other side ; then the cracking 
and whistling were heard again. I could get no 
rest for nearly twelve hours after ; I really cannot 
say whether it was through the effects of fright 
and heated imagination, but I thought I beheld 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 29 

strange colossal figures prowling about me ; I 
heard horrid cries, as if many persons were going 
to be swallowed up by an immense whirlpool, 
out of w r hich issued flames and a most disa- 
greeable sulphuric smell. Now and then I saw 
figures like men crossing the river, and looking at 
me with distrust ; I do not know indeed what 
would have become of me in so critical a moment 
had not the salutary religious instructions of my 
poor father and mother and of my professors 
come to my aid, who always taught me to trust 
in God, and in Jesus Christ our Saviour. I did 
so, I prayed to our Maker through the kind inter- 
cession of our Redeemer, and innocently invoked 
the blessed Virgin Mary, and all the Saints in 
communion with Jesus Christ, which renewed 
my strength of mind most wonderfully, and 
from that moment I was no longer afraid of any 
thing. It was the third week of my subterrane- 
ous voyage when I began to think that there 
would, sooner or later, be an end to my voyage, 
and my provisions began to fail me. Being thus 
wrapt up in meditation, I began to feel a pres- 
sure of air on the river ; the water was no longer 
rapid and undulating, which at once convinced 
me that some great change was going to take 
place. The bed of the river must have been 
by that time about sixty feet broad. All on a 
sudden my bridge gave several turns; I clung 
fast to the ropes ; the bridge sunk suddenly, and 



30 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

then I felt myself propelled with it upwards 
with great violence. I had been accustomed to 
keep my eyes open under water, and could see 
light above me, and, as I felt my breath failing 
me, I let go the bridge and endeavoured to swim 
to the top where I saw light. I had already 
swallowed a good quantity of water. On a sud- 
den I rose, and beheld again the glorious light of 
day ; I swam for about two minutes to give myself 
time to look about me and see whether I could get 
again a sight of my bridge, which fortunately was 
floating capsized not far from me ; I swam to it and 
worked it to the shore, which was about twenty 
yards off; it was at the foot of an immense 
mountain, where I landed safely about three 
o'clock. The sun shone beautifully, and poured 
new strength into my whole constitution. As 
soon as I reached the shore I fell upon my knees, 
and gave myself up to most fervent thanksgivings 
to my Heavenly Father, and then I began to 
think of pitching my tent in some safe place for 
the night. I could scarcely keep my eyes open, 
having been deprived for such a length of time 
of the light of the sun. I had on one side the 
wide sea, and the huge mountain before me, 
covered with very lofty trees ; the sea-shore was 
lined with shrubs not unlike the wild laurel ; 
there was also fine grass on the ground, with 
many variegated flowers that spread a sweet per- 
fume. The sun gradually descended behind the 



THE ORPHAN OF XOVOGOROD. ol 

mountain. I saw very fine birds, but neither the 
animal nor vegetable creation was known to me 
in that place, which puzzled me not a little. 
Of men I saw none, yet I found tracts which 
convinced me that the country wherein I now 
found myself was inhabited. I hauled my faith- 
ful bridge on shore, and found to my great com- 
fort that I had two dried sausages and the brandy 
left, and that the pruning knife, the saw and the 
tinder-box, which I had fastened to a nail, were 
yet preserved to me. I immediately took care 
to dry my clothes during the evening at an im- 
mense fire, which I kindled for that purpose, and 
also to defend myself against the wild beasts, as 
well as to give notice to the inhabitants of the 
place that I was in their neighbourhood, but I 
was visited by neither. I built a kind of hut on 
a little hill or slip of ground which projected a 
good way into the sea. It was a splendid evening ; 
the sun had just run his glorious course and I 
was getting ready to go to rest, when I distinctly 
heard the report of a large gun ; I instantly con- 
jectured that I could not be very far from some 
town or fortress; wrapped up in a thousand 
speculations and suppositions, I at last fell asleep 
for four good hours, when I was awakened by 
the howling of wild beasts not unlike a lion ; I 
seized my pruning-knife, and did not close my 
eyes again that night, or rather day, for shortly 



32 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

after it began to dawn ; and lo ! the report of a 
heavy piece of artillery was heard again from the 
same quarter. The sun began to emerge from 
the sea, and saluted the country with its benefi- 
cent rays and glorious brightness. I could dis- 
tinctly see several sails to the east, steering in 
the direction from whence the two reports of the 
heavy cannon came. I was not long in deter- 
mining to start for the supposed large town ; I 
accordingly left my hut, and speedily lighting 
a fire, was going to boil one of my sausages, and 
while I was thus occupied, I heard some of the 
wild fowls cackle like the hens after they lay their 
eggs ; I accordingly watched them with attention, 
and by this means soon discovered a nest of about 
eighteen eggs, of the size of those from our do- 
mestic hen ; I seized half a dozen of them, and 
boiled them in the tinder-jar, and made a most 
hearty breakfast of them, and then ascended the 
mountain to the right. It took me three good 
hours to reach the top of the mountain ; it is true 
I stopped very often looking at many of the wild 
animals which I started as I went along ; some 
looked like hares, and the others seemed to be a 
kind of red deer, but they were very tame. My 
joy was beyond all bounds when, on coming to 
the summit, I beheld before me a beautiful land- 
scape, composed of groves and superb villas, 
joining an immense city, intersected by three 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOEOD. 33 

rivers crowded with ships and boats, going up 
and down without any sails set. The town 
seemed to be very large ; the streets were regu- 
larly built, and always led into large squares, 
and then a beautiful plain opened, interspersed 
with undulating hills as far as my eye could 
reach, which ended in the distance in a fine 
ridge of mountains, their blue outlines forming a 
pleasing contrast with the bright and glorious 
sky above. 



34 . THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD, 



THIRD NARRATION. 

Whilst I was thus gazing on the beautiful coun- 
try before me, I was alarmed by a great noise ; I 
looked up, and beheld at the distance of a mile from 
me, an immense monster in the air moving rapidly 
towards me ; the first surprise did not allow me 
to examine immediately what it might be, but I 
soon saw that it was an air balloon, worked by a 
machine fixed in the car underneath the balloon, 
moving its huge paddles in the air. With a sur- 
prising rapidity it passed over my head, and a 
tremendous voice hailed me with a speaking- 
trumpet, but I could not make out the words ; 
I grew bold, however, and gave as loud a shout 
as I could, waving my handkerchief at the same 
time. Immediately the monster balloon stopped, 
and a basket was let down for me, and as I could 
not well refuse the kind offer, I seated myself 
in it, and was soon hauled up by a machine 
moved by clock-work. On my entering the car, 
I found, to my greatest astonishment, about fifty 
persons sitting comfortably in cells, not unlike 
small arm-chairs, fastened to the main basket, 
and covered with a kind of Indian-rubber cloth. 
On seeing me they expressed their admiration, 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 35 

and an elderly mild-looking person asked me in 
Latin what language I spoke. On saying that I 
understood Illyrian, German and Latin, he conti- 
nued speaking Latin to me, asking me a few ques- 
tions as to how I came on the mountain ; when, 
hearing that I was thrown up by the waters at 
the foot of the mountain, he and all the persons 
in the basket immediately offered me their ser- 
vices, and vied with each other as to who should 
be the first to assist me ; yet they all ceded me 
to the person who first addressed me. They all 
spoke Latin, Greek, German and English, and 
expressed themselves very laconically in all those 
languages, avoiding all useless circumlocutions. 
A quarter of an hour afterwards an anchor was 
cast out in a very large square of the town, which 
I had been admiring a few minutes before ; some 
persons secured the anchor to some immense iron 
rings, after which the main basket was lowered 
into the square by means of pullies, not unlike 
those used on board ship. My old friend put a 
comfortable cloak and cap over me ; a light car- 
riage approached us, into which we stept, and 
moved off with great rapidity. The carriage was 
worked and directed by a man standing and 
pressing with his feet alternately two iron pans, 
which immediately rose again with great force, 
by means of two powerful steel springs fixed 
underneath to a kind of block-work. The wheels 
of the carriage were eight feet in diameter : they 

d2 



36 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

had in the centre another spring, which, when 
wound up, continued moving forward for three 
hours, at the rate of six miles per hour, which, 
when united to the team machine, propelled the 
carriage at the rate of twelve miles per hour on 
even ground and six miles per hour ascending any 
hill ; and in fact all the carts and carriages were 
made upon the same principle throughout the 
whole country. My friend took me to his house, 
situated in one of the squares ; his family received 
him and me with great joy, and I was shown into 
an apartment nicely furnished, when my kind 
host then left me, telling me that I must consider 
myself at home, and that I could do no greater 
offence to his house than by constraining him to 
press me, to find out what I required ; I remarked, 
that the balloon was then lowered close to the 
basket, but it remained always a little inflated by a 
tube hanging down from the centre, ready to start 
again towards the east early the next morning. 
I observed several other balloons in other squares 
in the same position ; they were called aerial 
safety packets. 

I assured my host that it would be my parti- 
cular care to conform most strictly to ? all their 
customs; in answer to which, he pressed my 
hand most affectionately, and, giving a deep sigh, 
said, " God grant it ; but I must tell you, my 
good friend, that our records most sadly relate 
that all those that have come from your regions 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 37 

have sooner or later acted in a contrary manner ; 
they could not help dissimulating and hiding their 
real thoughts ; they continually betrayed them- 
selves by their actions, and ultimately made 
themselves so miserable by their own self-con- 
sciousness, that they departed from us on their 
own accord to the mountains which you see to 
the north, provided with all the necessaries of 
life for one calendar month, and preferred thus 
to go astray in a subterraneous passage, which 
is said by old traditions to lead back to your 
regions, provided the person chooses the true one, 
though we have never yet been able to find out 
that any one had returned from thence to tell us 
of the fact ; and for the rest, I shall take you to 
our public libraries, where you can read with at- 
tention the records thereon, in any of the lan- 
guages you speak, and memorable they are. We 
are all Christians, and followers of Jesus Christ, 
and read with horror and astonishment of the dis- 
union, persecutions and uncharitableness which 
reign amongst you ; which information comes to 
us occasionally in all languages, partly in books, 
partly in newspapers, which are found in your 
ships and on dead persons, cast up from the 
depths of the seas and from whirlpools, and which 
are thus finally thrown up by the waters, as 
you have been, and many indeed there are. We 
keep them on the sea-coast, near the place where 
they have been originally found ; these we have 



38 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

arranged according to their seniority, and depo- 
sited all their contents and curiosities in the great 
museum, purposely built to contain things that 
come from your world, which I shall show you, 
as soon as you get acquainted with our customs, 
which will not take you above one week, for 
they are simple, few, and very easily acquired." 
It was on the eve of their Sabbath-day that I 
came to the town called New Jerusalem, where 
I then found myself in my hospitable friend's 
house. As we walked through the different apart- 
ments, my friend pointed out to me a large dining 
hall, provided with chairs, sofas, and many large 
tables ; it was then being covered with all kinds 
of meats, wines and other comforts, together with 
fruits of the season. " To this place," my friend 
continued, " we shall resort to-morrow for our 
morning, noon and evening meals, because, al- 
though we keep strictly the Ten Commandments 
of the Lord, we scorn all hypocrisy, we live on 
the Sabbath-day merrily, and praise the Lord, 
whom we are taught by our forefathers to con- 
sider our kindest and fondest of Fathers, and who 
only wishes to see us happy ; and we strictly 
observe the injunctions and doctrines of our 
Saviour Jesus Christ, which is contained in these 
few words, " love your fellow-creature as your- 
self and do unto others as you wish to be done 
by f which words are written in all our churches, 
into which we admit all men, but never force 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOKOD. 39 

any one to adopt our creed, neither by threat nor 
intimidation. We let any of the new comers 
think and work for themselves, who, without ex- 
ception, seeing the great principle of charity and 
forgiveness upon which we act, are glad to resort 
to divine service once every Sabbath-day, which 
divine service is performed at sunrise, at noon 
and at sunset; it only lasts an hour, and con- 
cludes with a sermon, laid down by a committee 
of our elder-men, who assemble every year, and 
who make a rule to keep close to the system 
and practice of our Saviour Jesus Christ, not 
admitting of any innovations, which so sadly 
have been introduced by your maniacs, enthu- 
siasts, selfish and interested knaves, under the 
mask of religion, or the so-called spirit of the 
age. No, my dear friend, the Bible or the New 
Testament is our great book, and we keep to 
it strictly, as you will see to-morrow. Name 
only the time when you wish to serve your God." 
I immediately said at sunrise, to which he gladly 
consented. By that time we had walked nearly 
through his whole suite of rooms, when I heard 
most cheerful music proceed from the centre of the 
house ; my friend was much pleased at seeing me 
so agreeably surprised. That music, my friend, 
said he, is the call to dinner. We accordingly 
approached the place from whence the melody 
proceeded, and entered another hall, not so large 
as the Sabbath-hall, but very comfortable, in the 



40 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

middle of which was a dining table covered with 
various meats, fruits, and all kinds of wines. 
I had scarcely time to look about me when I saw 
all the inmates assembled. Just as they were 
going to sit down, my host asked me how old I 
was ? and on my answering him that I was in 
my eighteenth year, I was shown to a place be- 
tween a young lady and a young gentleman, who 
expressed great pleasure to have me between 
them. My friend sat at the head of the table, 
and blessed the meal, by making a Latin cross 
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
and sat down. My two young friends to the 
right and left took care of me ; they spoke all 
the languages which I did except Illyrian, but 
were not ignorant of its existence, and told me 
that they would introduce me to some of their 
friends who spoke Russian, which is nearly the 
same language. After having been thus at table 
for about three-quarters of an hour, the father of 
the family and the whole company stood up and 
thanked God for the food which we had received 
at his hands, and then sat down again, when 
most enchanting music was heard proceeding 
from an urn placed between the two central bal 
conies ; it played for a good half hour ; then the 
whole company rose to pursue their various occu- 
pations. My old friend walked up to me, and 
invited me to a walk in his garden with part of 
his family, which I readily accepted ; it was 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 41 

situated at the back of the house, and led to the 
river side ; there were four beautiful walks in it 
leading from the house to the water, and ended 
in four fine arcades at the water side, so that we 
could see all the boats going up and down the 
river without being overlooked by them, except 
we chose to seat ourselves on the other side of 
the arcades, before which was a beautiful arena, 
with a landing place. After sunset I heard most 
charming but very powerful music, like a military 
band. My host told me that this music pro- 
ceeded from the church steeple which we saw to 
our right ; he said that every church is provided 
with a splendid euterpion, and that at sunset 
they begin to play at intervals of a quarter of an 
hour each, and thus continued playing for about 
two hours. In the morning at sunrise they begin 
again to play for an hour, during the week ; on 
Sabbath days they begin to play an hour before 
sunrise. It was ten o'clock at night when we 
heard again the musical call for supper, and pro- 
ceeded accordingly to the dining hall, where I 
took my old station ; half an hour after, we got 
up and walked into an adjoining apartment, 
where we had singing and playing, and coffee 
and tea. 

The following were the qualifications of their 
clergymen : — 

1st. No person was allowed to be an ordained 
clergyman who did not speak and perfectly 



42 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

understand all the principal ancient and 
modern languages of the country, so as to be 
able to perform divine service in any language, 
according as he might be situated, pursuant 
to part of the Gospel of St. Mark, xvi. 14. 
2nd. All clergymen were allowed to marry. 
3rd. They were handsomely paid by govern- 
ment. 
4th. No clergyman was allowed to trade, or 

receive any fees. 
5th. No clergyman was allowed in the pulpit 
to speak against any Christian sect ; the 
errors of the heathen and other unbelievers 
were not allowed to be animadverted upon 
in the pulpit, but their errors were to be 
shown with calmness, compassion, and with- 
out any vehemence, concluding with a most 
engaging and conciliating prayer for the 
same, without ever excommunicating any 
individual. 
6th. No halt or defective person was allowed 

to be a clergyman. 
An hour before the break of day the church 
music awoke me, and penetrated to my soul. 
With all imaginary elevation of my mind and 
reverence for our Creator, I could not help 
falling upon my knees, and praising the Lord 
during the whole time' of the sacred morning 
music. We assembled in the Sabbath hall, and 
helped ourselves at the breakfast-table to what- 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 43 

ever we liked best, and then proceeded to church. 
The temple stood in the middle of a large square, 
and had four magnificent gates, situated to the 
east, west, south and north. There again I heard 
most entrancing music. We walked to the centre 
of the church and sat down on very comfortable 
seats, which were all open without any pew- 
openers, sextons or beadles. Between every door 
there was an altar, representing the birth, life, 
passion and death of Jesus Christ. On the walls 
were written, in golden letters, the Lord's Prayer, 
Saint Gabriel's Salutation of the Virgin Mary, 
the Creed, and the Ten Commandments. The 
service began exactly when the sun rose. In the 
middle of the church there was a round pulpit ; 
in the second range there was the officiating elder 
or shepherd, and in the first range the elders and 
the clerical clerks. We all knelt down and 
crossed ourselves with the Latin cross, and the 
clergyman or shepherd invited us to confess our 
sins to the Almighty through Jesus Christ, and 
to ask forgiveness of them with a sincere and peni- 
tent heart, repeating the Confession after the 
clergyman, who then pronounced over us the ab- 
solution of our sins, provided we repented, and 
have forgiven them that have trespassed against 
us. Then the different prayers were read, nearly 
the same which I heard in my country ; but all 
repetitions were avoided. The same Psalms and 
Gospels, prayers, &c. were made for all men, 



44 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

and particularly for us, who are so differing in 
our opinions, and persecuting each other. During 
a part of these prayers I was overpowered, and 
was ready to burst into a flood of tears, reflecting 
on the actual cruelties and persecutions and 
shameful dissensions between us, who call our- 
selves followers of Christ ; nay, that we are even 
encouraged to it by our ministers, calling them- 
selves disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. The 
general benediction was then given, and we rose, 
passing by one of the four altars, where we knelt 
down, and received every one of us the holy and 
most comfortable sacrament, from one of the 
officiating clerical elders in the most becoming 
manner, but without any pomp or ceremony, in 
remembrance of our Saviour and Redeemer. We 
then immediately rose and went to our homes 
with great cheerfulness. 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 45 



FOURTH NARRATION. 

My friend told me that it was the custom to attend 
divine service only once in the day, in order that no 
one should remain away from church ; and he said 
also, that the household people generally went in 
the morning or evening. At nine o'clock we were 
called to our breakfast, and 'continued at it for a 
good half-hour. We then went out to explore 
the town until dinner-time ; the streets w r ere 
alive with all classes of people going backwards 
and forwards ; and we heard music playing in 
the various squares. On Sundays, we always 
dined at two o'clock, in order that we might not 
interfere with the evening service, and with the 
parties which were generally given at night, both 
by the higher and lower classes. Ball-rooms and 
theatres were open in the evening ; in short, 
no restraint was put on the poorer people 
from amusing themselves. The streets were re- 
markably clean, and on each side of them 
there ran a small stream of water, constantly 
flowing, kept up by the waterworks and nume- 
rous springs, which served to water the streets, 
and thus carried off all the refuse into the 



46 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

river. We had just arrived at the end of our 
street, when my friend took me into a beautiful 
public garden, where we sat down on a gentle 
elevation, viewing the country all around us. 
I seized this opportunity, and asked my friend 
how it was that I saw no beggars in the streets ; 
he sighed, and said, " my dear friend, that is 
another horrid practice amongst you, of having 
beggars, and we suppose it is a kind of punish- 
ment inflicted upon you on account of your gene- 
ral uncharitableness to those who are rendered 
unfortunate amongst you ; it seems as if you con- 
sidered poverty synonymous with crime, and thus 
by your laws and practice you augment crime 
and the number of the poor; and it appears also, 
that the poor and wretched in your world are 
apparently kept in that state, lest they should 
ever get independent, because your great men 
fear that they would lose their power and conse- 
quence ; we thank God that we have no poor, nor 
do our laws allow any man to be in that state ; 
our elders belonging to the committee for regu- 
lating trade and industry, have formed an opinion 
from the various papers and books deposited in 
our public libraries from your world, that in the 
wealthiest parts of the country, wherever the 
peasants are not real landed proprietors them- 
selves, and where, consequently, the land is in 
the hands of a few hundreds of seigneurs, nearly 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOKOP. 47 

the whole of the lower classes consist of a 
people on the verge of ruin. I hope you will 
feel convinced of this truth when you will have 
visited our capital, which is about four hundred 
English miles from hence. The best season to 
visit it is during the winter, because about that 
time the court resides there, but from May to the 
end of October the monarch always travels to 
the various cities, and does not omit to visit the 
smallest and most remote spot of his dominions, 
and upon these occasions he travels without 
any parade or pomp. He is not accompanied 
by any troops, as we have none, and because in 
time of need every one of us is a soldier, as you 
will see in the course of time. Every day, either 
during the time that he is travelling or residing 
in the capital, he gives audience to those who 
express a wish to see him, or to present to him 
any papers. He is continually seen in the public 
places of worship, amusement, and in the public 
walks, &c. No request addressed to him remains 
longer unanswered than three days from the time 
it has been presented. No difference, quarrel 
or question can be longer pending than twenty- 
four hours before it must be decided. We have 
no prisons, no punishment by death, and astonish- 
ing to relate, crimes are scarcely known amongst 
us, owing perhaps to the salutary system to stifle 
every germ of vice at its very first appearance. 



48 THE ORPHAN OP NOVOGOROD. 

All the public places of worship and amusement 
are free to the public. Many are thus saved from 
ruin, as no extraordinary expense can be incurred 
by them in any amusement, and consequently 
the great desire of resorting to such places is 
allayed, and the mind is rendered more indifferent 
to them. We have performances both in plays 
and ballets, which tend to elevate the feelings, 
by the excellent morals they engender, even 
amongst the lowest classes. At the age of thirty 
every man must provide himself with a wife, and 
no man is thought well of who is not married 
after he has passed the age of thirty-six. Divorces 
are allowed, but under the sole condition that 
both the husband and wife immediately marry 
again of their own accord within the space of 
one month after their separation. The children 
of the first marriage are allowed to stay either 
with their father or mother, or as the parties con- 
tracting may have agreed. The marriages are 
celebrated in the churches, in private, or at home, 
by one of the clerical elders free of any charges ; 
all christenings and burials are also free from all 
expenses. 

The encouragement of arts and sciences are 
publicly taught, and also free of all expenses, and 
no one can receive his certificate for any profes- 
sion who has not been unanimously approved by 
the committee of one hundred elders ; and that 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 49 

committee at the same time points out to any can- 
didate thus excluded, the trade or art for which he 
ought to apply ; but those exclusions very seldom 
happen, on account of the strict examinations 
which the candidates are obliged to undergo, be- 
fore they can apply for the final appointment to 
their profession. 

With regard to education, during the first ten 
years both the male and female children are 
entrusted to the instruction of their father and 
mother, who study first their bodily health and 
constitution, and afterwards gently form their 
minds and prepare them for that career which 
they wish them to pursue. They then are sent 
either to the public elementary schools, or may 
be privately instructed at home. They are never 
put to any serious study before the age of four- 
teen ; nay, they are most agreeably instructed 
in the various languages, drawing, music, arith- 
metic, &c, until they arrive at that age, when 
they are bound to attend the public colleges and 
universities, for the space of four, five, or six years, 
according to the progress they make in the different 
branches of the profession for which they have 
studied. They are then incorporated in their 
department, where they attend as apprentices for 
the space of three years, at the end of which 
period they are sent by the proper committee of 
elders to the capital, to undergo a final examina- 
tion by the general committee of the profession 

E 



50 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

to which they aspire, and are then nominated by 
this same committee, and, being approved of by 
the monarch, are appointed accordingly. 

Every female or male past the age of fourteen 
is obliged to attend for two years the anatomical 
and medical lectures ; even the members of the 
royal family are not exempt from that regulation, 
because our ancestors and all of us consider, that 
as the different opinions of the clergy have caused 
so many dissensions, disasters and bloodshed, and 
have so often plunged the whole world into bar- 
barism and darkness for so many centuries 
amongst you, so also the medical men are consi- 
dered to have killed and continue to kill more 
men than all the battles and pestilences united 
ever did, on account of their not agreeing in 
opinion, and as every medical man has actually 
his own way and method of treating one and the 
very same disease, in which they cannot possibly 
be all correct, since one and the same malady 
must naturally have one and the same cure. We 
actually feel the most salutary effect of our wise 
arrangements in the medical department, since 
we have thus succeeded in prolonging our lives to 
three hundred years. We are still vigorous at 
two hundred and fifty, of which you have an 
instance in me. 

These are the main regulations for the medical 
department : — 

1st. Every physician must be also a surgeon. 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 51 

2nd. Medical men are to have a handsome 
salary from government, as they are not per- 
mitted to receive any fees. 
3rd. The physician must visit his patients four 
times in the day to observe the different 
symptoms. 
4th. The medicines also are to be supplied by 
the public apothecaries gratis, of which there 
are six in every street, with the same num- 
ber of physicians. 
5th. That all such physicians who do not re- 
move a malady in the course of three days 
be dishonoured, and revert to some other 
profession. 
6th. There are rules set down by a committee 
of one hundred medical elders how to treat 
every malady and wound of any kind, from 
which they cannot at all deviate, in which 
rules every thing is so clearly explained, that 
the narrowest mind may comprehend them. 
7th. That the fair sex are supplied with female 
doctors, accoucheurs, &c, &c, who are in- 
structed and paid upon the same principle 
as the male physicians and surgeons ; the 
former, in fact, excel us in many points, 
nay, they have contributed to very many 
superior discoveries peculiar to the female 
sex. Few lose their children, whose ages 
are prolonged, as I have already said, to 
three hundred years and upwards. 
e2 



52 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

8th. That all the deceased are inspected and 
opened after they had been lying in state 
for the space of eight days, and be after- 
wards committed to one of the four public 
burying-grounds outside the town. 
9th. A work entitled " The Mirror of Health," 
is printed in the form of a small volume, and 
ordered to be placed in all bed-rooms, with 
directions how to proceed on the first symp- 
toms of any illness appearing, and thus the 
doctors are scarcely ever troubled or applied 
for ; but both the physicians and clergymen 
have a free access to families, and are consi- 
dered as friends. 
Our beloved monarch has carefully considered 
all these laws, which tend so much to our happi- 
ness and welfare. He has made himself ac- 
quainted with all these studies, as tending to the 
prosperity of his subjects ; and unless this is the 
case, no country or its inhabitants can be truly 
happy, as you must clearly see in your own 
world. 

I was highly pleased with this information, and 
expressed a wish to be shown the public library, 
which my friend promised to do on the following 
day ; by that time the divine service at noon was 
announced by the sacred music in the different 
churches. We therefore walked home and rested 
ourselves in the sitting-room, reading the news- 
paper, which to me was highly interesting, and 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 53 

from which I clearly saw how candid and correct 
my good friend had been in his informations. 

An hour after the evening divine service, the 
family proposed to go to the opera. The opera 
was announced to be the " Clemenza di Tito;" I 
found the house was lighted with gas, and it 
would be impossible to describe the magnificence 
of the building and its decorations, and the 
beauty of the music and singing. The pit and 
boxes were full ; rich and poor all sat together ; 
and the neat and quiet dresses of the higher 
orders were very striking. Every thing was so 
very harmonious and cheerful, that it inspired 
the most indifferent heart with a wish to partake 
of the amusement for which we assembled. The 
whole opera only lasted two hours, after which 
the stage was instantly lowered on a level with 
the pit; four magnificent gates opened at the 
bottom of the stage, and we beheld before us a 
kind of garden, in the centre of which were large 
banquet tables, covered with all the fruits of the 
season, and provisions of all descriptions. In 
each of the four corners of that garden there 
was an immense hall beautifully lighted up, 
where various groups were merrily dancing ; 
in one hall they had country-dances, in another 
quadrilles, in the third waltzes, and in the fourth 
minuets. All classes most happily mixed toge- 
ther : the governor danced with the peasant girl, 
and the peasant with the clergyman's daughter ; 



54 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

in short every one was happy and enjoyed him- 
self. I went to the hall, where I heard waltzes 
playing, and engaged a beautiful young lady, 
who was seated on one of the sophas ; we 
made several rounds in the hall, and feeling 
rather tired, my friend came up to me and asked 
me how I had amused myself. I told him that I 
was much pleased with the young lady with 
whom he had seen me waltzing. He asked me 
if I knew how old she was ; I said I sup- 
posed about my own age : he smiled and told 
me that she was past one hundred years, which 
completely puzzled me. We then went to the 
quadrilles, where he showed me some couples 
dancing, who were above two hundred years old. 
In the minuet rooms were little children and 
elderly looking men and women ; he informed me 
that most of the persons dancing in that room 
were verging on three hundred years, and some 
were even passed that age, who still enjoyed the 
amusement. Towards eleven o'clock the parties 
left the dancing rooms, and we then went home, 
and partaking of a slight supper retired to our 
rooms about midnight. 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 55 



FIFTH NARRATION. 

When he had arrived at this part of his narra- 
tive, an interruption took place, for we came in 
sight of Trieste, one of the principal Austrian sea- 
ports in the Adriatic ; he promised however to 
finish it on some other day. 

The town of Trieste, with its territory, contains 
about 100,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the 
seaside, and is now a very thriving free port. On 
the north and east is Carniola ; on the south is 
Istria, while to the west is the blue Adriatic. 
The port is a pretty secure one, except during the 
prevalence of the north-east winds, which, during 
winter, cause some danger to any ships which 
anchor too close to the Lazzaretto Vecchio, as they 
are sometimes cast on shore ; but there is not 
the least danger to the shipping in the anchorage 
on the other side of the Mollo di S. Carlo, where 
the wind can do no material harm. During the 
winter season, an easterly wind, called the Bora, 
is very prevalent, and sometimes so violent that 
people are often thrown down by it. The town is 
regularly built, and possesses very fine streets 
and squares; and in the outskirts are many 
beautiful villas, which command the most charm- 



56 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

ing views. The smaller country-houses are called 
Mandrie, and the peasantry about there are 
styled Mandrieri. They speak Carnilan, a kind 
of Illyrian; they are a hardy and courageous 
race, and would make excellent light troops; 
they wear short round jackets, and loose trousers 
of black cloth, with large Quakers hats ; they 
form the militia of Trieste, and present a very 
imposing appearance when they are embodied in 
regiments in the time of war. The gentry of 
Trieste consider themselves of noble descent, 
and speak a kind of corrupt Venetian ; they call 
their Mandrieri and all the peasants round Trieste 
Schiavi. These old Triestines, however, have nearly 
disappeared. The present population consists of 
various nations, and specimens of almost every 
nation may be seen parading the streets and 
about the port; the major part of the inhabitants 
however consist of Germans and Italians. They 
all live in great harmony together, no matter 
what country or persuasion they belong to; and 
it is certainly to the credit of the Austrian go- 
vernment, that there is more tolerance in Trieste 
than in any other part of the world, North America 
perhaps excepted. For this Austria is indebted 
to Maria Theresa, the Emperor Joseph, and to the 
late emperors, Francis I. and II., names that 
never can be forgotten. Trieste is well supplied 
with all kinds of provisions and the luxuries of 
life. During the heat of summer the inhabitants 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 57 

are often distressed for fresh water. But it is 
hoped that the new burying-ground, lately se- 
lected by the Triestine elders, and which yields 
vast quantities of water during nine months in 
the year, will be turned to account by some 
clever engineer. Commerce is carried on at 
Trieste with all parts of the world, but particu- 
larly with England, America, the Levant, Greece, 
Egypt, and the coast of Italy, together with the 
Island of Sicily. 

Trieste is in fact the emporium of all kinds of 
merchandise, and an admirable place for gaining 
commercial knowledge, and where a man may 
soon make his fortune. Large sums of money 
are here raised on English government bills. 
Venice is next to Trieste in this respect, but 
from the difficult entrance for vessels, this city will 
never be able to cope with Trieste. The principal 
import from the interior of Austria and Illyria 
is wheat, copper, iron, lead, quicksilver, timber, 
wines, cattle, linen, and various other commo- 
dities. 

In a military point of view, Trieste is exposed 
on every side, but the holds on the mountains all 
round Trieste are very strong, and capable of 
keeping off an enemy, particularly from the side 
towards the sea. On the mountains above Trieste 
there is excellent sporting during the woodcock 
season ; there is also a great abundance of hares 
and red-leg partridges. 



58 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

About ninety miles to the south-east of Trieste 
is Fiume, a free port of Hungary, very important 
for the exportation of Bannat wheat, timber, and 
all the articles which are brought to Trieste; 
thirty miles to the south of Fiume, is the free 
port of Segna, having also a great traffic in the 
same articles. Segna, however, being exposed 
to the bora, is not so thriving. Fiume might 
become as important a place as Trieste, if its 
commercial interests were more regarded. Ninety 
English miles to the west of Trieste is Venice, 
also a free port ; but on account of the diffi- 
culty which large vessels have in entering it 
will never become a thriving maritime town, un- 
less the Venetians united all the islands by 
bridges, and made them approachable for car- 
riages by some large viaduct from the main land, 
on the side of the Brenta and Lido Dimalamacco. 
Venice would then indeed be regenerated and 
become the most interesting town in Italy, if not 
in the world. And in my humble opinion the 
Venetians are as deserving of aid on the part of 
the Austrian government, for the Venetians are 
more attached to Austria than any other Italian 
nation ; and Austria, by so doing, would perhaps 
derive very great advantages for herself, as well 
as for all her hereditary provinces. Venice would 
thus become a great commercial town ; and were 
fortifications to be added, it would be one 
of the strongest places in the world, and a safe 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 59 

military depot for the Austrians. Bonaparte has 
given a specimen of the improvements he would 
have made in Venice, merely by the planting of 
the walk called " IlGiardino Publico." The lonely 
and melancholy looking palaces would soon be 
re-animated ; Venice would indeed with justice be 
called " La Partenope del Mondo," and a fairy 
town. As to the laws of Austria, they are the 
most mild and paternal ones in the whole world. 
In no country are the peasantry more protected : 
there the poor man is not afraid to bring a rich 
man to justice; the public authorities are bound 
to hear him and do him justice. There the per- 
secuted man need not be afraid that he will be 
put to any great expense by his rich opponent. 
In Austria every peasant, nay, every tradesman 
owns some portion of land, which he cheerfully 
cultivates, knowing that his grand-children will 
amply reap the profits. 

Austria, in itself a very small province, was in 
the first instance made an empire, in order to 
deprive Francis II., Emperor of Germany, of 
all his principal rights in being styled the Em- 
peror of Rome and of Germany, and thus to 
make Austria gradually sink into a secondary 
power in Germany. Whereas, Prussia, it is true, 
had not been aggrandised by the late war ; but 
she knew how to keep her title and rank, which 
may in the course of time render her the mistress 



60 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

and protectress of the whole of Germany, thanks 
to the deplomacy of England, France, Russia and 
Prussia. Poor Francis II. was so humbled as to 
become Francis I., Emperor of Austria, having 
been left to the mercy of Napoleon, and was ex- 
cluded from all further claims to the control 
over Germany. Why England, for whom Aus- 
tria shed so much blood, allowed her only faithful 
and steady ally to be thus dealt with, remains yet 
a riddle ; but in the main it is evident that Eng- 
land, allowing Austria to lose her supremacy in 
Germany, has virtually dipt her own wings in 
that part of Europe. Alas! Austria has lost her 
power in Germany, and few Germans regret it, 
not that the government is a bad one, but be- 
cause she is taunted by the ignorant as being a 
bigoted and Catholic country, and intolerant 
towards the Protestants, Calvinists and Luther- 
ans, which certainly was not the case during 
the reigns of the Emperors Joseph I., and 
Francis I. and II. Jealousy and fear of the Lu- 
therans and Protestants, however, in Prussia, as 
well also as that of France, contributed to en- 
tirely alienate the German hearts from Austria ; 
and unfortunately they have proved of late but 
too triumphant. It is known and acknowledged 
throughout the whole of Austria, that there is not 
a more tolerant country in the world in point of 
religion ; and I may even go so far as to say, that 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 61 

Austria, a Catholic country, is more enlightened 
and reformed in general notions of Christianity 
than many Protestant and Lutheran countries; 
and the period is perhaps not very distant, when, 
to the discomfit of bigoted Protestants, Aus- 
tria will put to the blush all those who would 
represent her in the odious light that I have 
already mentioned. I may say, and with truth, 
that there is no country in which the purity of 
the Catholic religion was more attended to than 
during the reigns of the Emperors Joseph I., and 
Francis I. and II. There a nobleman associates 
amongst his inferiors without being afraid of 
losing any portion of his nobility ; nay, he is more 
revered on this account by his peasants and in- 
feriors. The government is particularly paternal 
in point of public institutions of instruction. 
A peasant's son is allowed to frequent the 
different colleges, and is found seated near a 
count or baron, who meets with all that urbanity 
and respect due to his birth, though he may be 
seen playing with his inferiors during the hours 
of recreation. Austria is composed of many dif- 
ferent people, who are all governed by those laws 
which render them a most happy nation. In 
Hungary the peers or magnats own the land ; 
and there the peasants are slaves, while the civi- 
lians enjoy a little more freedom. In Italy the 
peasants or colloni, though not actually slaves, 
are perhaps in several instances worse off than 



62 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

those in Hungary, for they possess very few com- 
forts, and generally shelter themselves from the 
cold during the winter by living in the stables 
with the cattle ; and this is the country in which 
people boast that there is so much liberty and 
civilization ! 

Austria is sensible of their sufferings ; but, as 
nearly all the landed property is in the hands of 
the nobility, she cannot well interfere in it with- 
out upsetting the feudal systems of that country, 
which, it is to be hoped, she will eventually do, as 
soon as she has prosecuted that great object in 
Hungary. There are few countries in which all 
classes may live so well, and with so much eco- 
nomy as in Austria; and were English travellers 
to mix more with the inhabitants, and make 
themselves better acquainted with their manners 
and habits, many of their unjust prejudices would 
be removed. Austria is called an absolute mo- 
narchy, it is quite true ; but few persons are 
aware that her monarchs are the most rigo- 
rous observers of the laws, which have been 
framed by the states and their forefathers, and 
for that very reason she may be said to have a 
constitutional form of government, as it is the 
laws that govern and not the emperor. 

To return to my travels. My friend and I ar- 
rived safely at Trieste. I took a situation as 
tutor, in the family of a nobleman, who wished 
me to superintend the education of his two 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 63 

nephews ; he was from Trieste, and was named 
Francesco di Minighini ; there was an under- 
standing that I should be allowed to attend the 
public naval school during the time that I was 
with them. 

In 1805, I heard from all persons, that the 
French would soon come to Trieste and take pos- 
session of the whole of Carniola. My plans were 
thus about to be entirely frustrated ; I therefore 
began to make serious reflexions upon my future 
movements. I knew German, Latin, Illyrian, 
English, French, Italian and Spanish, which only 
kindled the more earnest desire to begin my 
travels. I dreaded the idea of seeing French 
bayonets in my native land ; in the mean time I 
became acquainted with several English and 
American naval officers. One day I was invited 
in company with the nephew of the Austrian 
governor, Count Lovag, of Trieste, and another 
friend of mine, Antonio De Minighini, to go and 
breakfast on board an English 64 gun ship, com- 
manded by Captain Briggs. The kind treatment 
which we received from this gentleman, the 
order and cleanliness of the ship, and of the 
whole crew, completely won my heart ; in short, 
the rapid approach of the French towards my 
native country, and my desire to see the world, 
determined me to take a passage on board an 
English man - of - war. A few days after I 
had formed this resolution, the I alouse English 



64 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

sloop of war came to Trieste, commanded by 
Captain Straichy. My plan was soon made and 
executed. I applied to the English consul for a 
passage, which was granted me immediately, and 
thus I sailed in her from Trieste, in the month of 
June, 1805. I shall never forget that day; it was 
towards sunset when we weighed anchor. I was 
shown into the midshipmen's mess-room ; it was 
rather small, but they all appeared to be very 
cheerful and happy. The first - lieutenant on 
board was Mr. Bailey, and the surgeon a Dr. 
Reid; the midshipmen were Modsly and Steven- 
son. The night was beautiful ; the sea was gently 
agitated by the evening breeze, from the Car- 
niolan and Carinthian mountains, and our vessel 
gliding over the shining waters, we arrived at 
day-break at the channel of Venice. I was asked 
by the officers if I wished to see Venice, to which 
I answered in the affirmative, and we soon after 
shoved off in the cutter, with the first-lieutenant 
Bailey, the doctor, and. several other officers; 
we remained at Venice about twenty-four hours. 
I here thought it better to lay in some stock of 
provisions for myself; I accordingly bought eight 
dozen of eggs, two pounds of tea, some sugar, 
cakes, and half a dozen of Cyprus wine, which I 
brought safely on board, and gave the whole over 
to Mr. Stevenson, the senior midshipman. The 
next day we sailed for Malta, just at sun-rise, 
and we soon lost sight of Venice. At eight 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 65 

o'clock I was called to breakfast in the midship- 
men's mess-room, where we were all very merry ; 
and I proposed to have some eggs for breakfast, 
and we soon despatched a dozen of them. At 
one o'clock we dined and drank between us a 
bottle or two of Cyprus; the next day we did 
the same, and made milk out of the eggs for our 
tea. My provisions, however, did not last very long, 
for, at the end of six or seven days, they were all 
devoured ; I did not much relish the tea without 
milk, nor the hard ship's biscuits for my break- 
fast ; I, however, did not lose my good spirits 
on this account ; the dinner hour did not mend 
the matter, for we had only salt beef, potatoes 
and biscuit, and some grog, which I could not 
drink. I was walking up and down the quarter- 
deck, when the first-lieutenant approached me, 
asked me how I fared ; I felt rather embarrassed, 
and did not give him an immediate answer ; but 
he continued talking with me, and asked me to 
dine with him next day, which I gladly accepted, 
and it made up for the preceding day. Next day 
the doctor invited me ; and I was thus asked to 
dinner almost every day by the officers of the gun- 
room during the whole passage to Malta. 

The eighth day after we left Venice, I observed 
all hands suddenly very busy, the drum beating to 
quarters, and I was shewn a large frigate, which 
was bearing down upon us, and being supposed to 
be French, the captain ordered the netting to be 



66 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

rigged up, in case of an attempt being made to 
board us ; the decks were cleared for action, and 
all hands were ordered to lie down near their 
guns, to be in readiness. It turned out however 
to be a false alarm, for the frigate proved to be a 
Neapolitan one. The next day we gave chase to 
a small craft, but the crew escaped in their boats. 
Two days after, when there was rather a heavy 
swell, we fell in with a large Trabaccolo; we 
brought the vessel to, and Mr. Stevenson was 
ordered to board her, which he instantly did, to 
examine her papers ; but the sea being rough, I 
saw him in some danger of being crushed between 
the two vessels, I therefore most innocently, and 
really in the sincerity of my heart, was so rejoiced 
to see him safe back, that as soon as he put his 
foot on the quarter-deck, I threw my arms around 
him before even he had said a word to the cap- 
tain, which scene I found to my great mortification 
was a source of much amusement to all the bye- 
standers, and soon cured me of giving way to any 
similar sentimental demonstration on board an 
English man-of-war. Before I left the Jalouse, 
Mr. Bailey asked me if I should like to remain as 
midshipman on board, which I politely declined, 
thinking of the bad fare that midshipmen endured 
in those times. There was a young Swiss officer as 
passenger on board, with whom I got acquainted; 
his name was Baron De Sonnenberg ; he was a 
very fine and engaging young man, and introduced 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 67 

me to Colonel De Watteville, and to some other 
officers of De Watteville's Regiment,, who hear- 
ing that I spoke English wanted to take lessons 
of me in that language ; they introduced me to 
Major D. Walker, of the 20th Regiment, who 
was a very good German scholar, and used to 
read with me. I thus continued for a fortnight, 
when Captain William Hoste, of H. M. ship Eury- 
dice, sent for me, offering me a seat at his table, 
and one dollar per day, if I liked to join him on 
board, and employ my time by reading and speak- 
ing French and Italian with him, w T hich I was 
not quite willing to accept ; but he called again 
and sent his first-lieutenant Mr. Green, now 
Sir Andrew Green, to me, representing to me 
the many advantages, were I to immediately 
join him, as he was going to put to sea early 
next morning, which offer I finally accepted, 
and embarked on board the Eurydice towards 
the end of August. Captain Hoste, the late 
gallant Sir William Hoste, soon gained my con- 
fidence by his truly endearing and cheerful man- 
ners, with whom I remained from August, 1805, 
to September, 1806, during which time I received 
all possible attention from him and from ail the 
officers on board. We left Malta next day, and 
took a cruise between Africa, Sardinia, Minorca, 
Majorca, and Gibraltar, when we received orders 
to join Lord Nelson's fleet off Cadiz. As soon as 
the Eurydice joined the fleet, she was irame- 

f 2 



68 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

diately selected to carefully watch the move- 
ments of the combined Spanish and French fleets 
in Cadiz, consisting of thirty-three sail of the 
line, without counting the frigates, sloops, &c. 
It is impossible to describe the zeal with which 
Sir William Hoste and Sir Andrew Green, together 
with all the other officers, acquitted themselves in 
that highly important duty. In the afternoon, and 
early in the morning, the Eurydice approached 
within gun-shot of the entrance of the harbour of 
Cadiz, when Sir William and Sir Andrew began 
to count the enemy's ships, noting their positions, 
size and appointments, which duty lasted for 
nearly three weeks. During the night we steered 
a little further off the harbour; and in the day 
time we made our report by signal. One day 
being relieved from our duties, we were cruising 
between Cape St. Mary and St. Lucar, when we 
discovered a gun-boat or shebeck steering close 
in shore; Sir William immediately gave chase, 
and just as we were getting our long guns to bear 
upon her, the Eurydice struck against the shoal. 
Sir William immediately ordered the launch to be 
manned with twenty-four men, in order to board 
the gun-boat. Sir Andrew Green jumped into 
her with his usual alacrity, and made off for the 
chase. The launch was not half a mile from us, 
when the Eurydice completely turned on her 
starboard side and remained so for several hours, 
until the tide lifted her again. As soon as the 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 69 

gun-boat saw the launch approaching, the whole 
crew fled with such a precipitation on shore, that 
they left the letter bag on board, which Sir An- 
drew took possession of and consigned it to the 
care of Sir William, who ordered me to examine 
the contents with great attention ; in doing so 
I found amongst them one which announced, that 
the enemy's combined fleets were going to sail 
with the first fair wind, which letter Sir William 
lost no time in taking to Lord Nelson, on board 
the Victory, who, after learning its contents, said 
to Sir William, " I know very well that they will 
come out ;" he consequently drew his ships be- 
hind Cape St. Mary and formed a line of fri- 
gates to observe the movements of the enemy's 
fleet. The same day, his lordship gave to Sir 
William the choice of the command of the Ajax 
74, and the Amphion frigate, Lord Nelson's 
favourite ship. Sir William accepted the latter, 
and assumed the command of her accordingly. 
I accompanied him, which was about the 15th 
or 16th of the month of October, in 1805. The 
Amphion was then ordered to proceed to Algiers 
with presents of some chests of muskets for the 
Dey ; we accordingly sailed, Sir William little 
thinking that he had seen his great friend Lord 
Nelson for the last time. On our arrival there 
the presents were delivered to the Dey, who was 
highly pleased with them. Sir William and myself 
were invited to stay for a few days with the 



70 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

English consul in the Dey's palace, from whence 
we made a shooting excursion to the north-east 
of Algiers, and found many red-leg partridges. 
The whole coast abounds in game, particularly 
during the quail and woodcock seasons. 

Algiers is agreeably situated; the country 
houses give it a fine appearance, but the town is 
built like a sugar-loaf, with narrow streets, simi- 
lar to all other Turkish towns. It has a miserable 
harbour, and is commanded from the south-west 
side, so that it cannot be made a strong place. 
The country on the whole coast of the north of 
Africa is much like the soil of Sicily, and may 
become a very fruitful one. The inhabitants are 
a hardy race, having the same habits, manners 
and customs as all the Arabs. The Dey was at 
that time on good terms with England, and he 
gave us as many head of cattle for our fleet as 
we chose to take on board. The four Portuguese 
officers who were slaves in Algiers were allowed 
to come and dine with us at the palace. They 
told us of the great sufferings they had endured, 
being obliged to carry large stones on their 
shoulders to Algiers from a place an hour's dis- 
tance from the town, so that their shoulders often 
bled. We promised them that their case should 
be brought before Lord Nelson ; the poor fellows 
shed tears on our departure. I also saw some 
Neapolitan prisoners of war or slaves, who were 
driven along the streets like cattle. I could not 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 71 

help reflecting how disgraceful it was for the 
whole of Christian Europe to allow those barbari- 
ties to exist so long. 

About the 28th of October, 1805, we left 
Algiers. We took the governor of Oran on board, 
in order to land him in Oran Bay, most delight- 
fully situated. The town is about five miles from 
the sea shore. 

During the passage I had an opportunity of 
conversing with the governor, who is a native of 
Turkey in Europe, and a well-informed man. 
Amongst other subjects, I turned our conversa- 
tion on religion, and asked him what he thought 
of our Christian religion ; to which he candidly 
replied that he could not form a favourable idea 
of it, since he saw us so disunited and so con- 
stantly at war with each other. He had a green 
waistcoat on, and said, " Look, that is green, and 
every body in their sound senses will say that it 
is so ; but your Copts, Armenians, Catholics, 
United Greeks, Disunited Greeks, Protestants, 
Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, Unitarians, 
&c, each one pretends to have a right notion of 
the colour, and laughs at his neighbour, whereas 
one only must be in the right." We were here 
interrupted by Sir William Hoste, who wanted 
to speak to the governor before he went on shore, 
which I was very glad of, as I was rather puzzled 
what reply I should make to him on so important 
a subject. In the afternoon we landed the governor 



72 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

under a salute, and continued our course towards 
Gibraltar. When we had passed Tetuan Bay, 
HJW's brig, the Halcyon, hove in sight ; she made 
a signal by telegraph of " Victory," and then that 
" Lord Nelson was dead." It certainly was an 
awful moment for every one on board ; poor 
Captain Hoste did not speak to any one, except 
when his duty required him, and in this mourn- 
ful condition we cast anchor at Gibraltar, where 
we found the whole of Lord Collingwood's fleet. 
I visited the French 74, Swiftsure, and the Spanish 
ship of the line Bahama ; they were both in the 
same state as after the action, except that the 
dead were committed to the watery grave, and the 
prisoners and wounded were sent on shore. 

The sides and the interior of the prizes were 
pierced just like a sieve, but I found that the 
shots had especially extended from astern to- 
wards the centre of the vessel, and shattered her 
in a dreadful manner, sweeping off dozens to the 
right and left on the maindecks, and dashing the 
skulls of the poor fellows against the ship's sides, 
which were still covered with the brains, blood and 
hair. It was indeed a heart-rending sight, but 
how much more distressing must have been the 
spectacle of Admiral Villeneuve's flag-ship, which 
had about three hundred men killed and wounded 
at the first broadside from the Victory ; so great 
indeed was the slaughter, that the French crew 
actually waded in their blood. 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 73 



SIXTH NARRATION. 

We remained at Gibraltar about a week, when 
on Sunday, about three o'clock, p.m.,, the admi- 
ral's ship made a signal for the Amphion to slip 
her cable and to attack the enemy's gun-boats, 
that were coming] out of Algesiras to annoy an 
English convoy of merchantmen, which were 
coming into Gibraltar direct from England. This 
order was immediately executed, and we were 
soon engaged with about thirty-two gun-boats, 
the greater part of which were protected by an 
immense battery, which began to pour shells 
upon us, several of which actually burst above 
and near the Amphion without doing us any 
harm ; several shots struck us under water, but 
did not penetrate ; one 24-pounder struck our 
launch, and broke one of our men's legs ; he 
hoisted himself up on the painter astern, and the 
poor fellow was taken down to the cockpit. The 
lower guns of the Amphion were so well directed 
by the first-lieutenant, Bennet, and by the second- 
lieutenant, G. M. Jones, that we sank several of 
the enemy's gun-boats ; the others soon retired, 
and we saw the whole convoy enter safely into 



74 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

Gibraltar harbour, if we may call that a harbour, 
which is the most unsafe in the world during 
north-west winds. The value of many of the 
cargoes which have gone down would exceed 
treble the sum that might be expended in cutting 
a deep canal between the neutral ground and the 
rock into the Mediterranean, by which the ships 
coming to Gibraltar would be protected from the 
north-westerly gales and would be perfectly se- 
cure, by the immense batteries on the land side. 

But to return to our naval operations. Lord 
Collingwood put again to sea with his victorious 
fleet, and the Amphion was ordered as a look-out 
ship, to observe the remnant of the Spanish and 
French ships of war and our escaped prizes in 
Cadiz harbour. One day, while we were thus 
reconnoitring the harbour, we saw all the men-of- 
war with their yards across, and soon learnt that 
it was the mourning signal of the brave Spanish 
Admiral Gravin, who had died of his wounds re- 
ceived off Trafalgar. A week after, we were sent 
on a cruise with the Unity frigate, commanded 
by Captain Ogle, in the Atlantic Ocean. The 
Amphion took the range between Madeira and 
the Canary Islands, and the Unity cruised more 
to the north-west, round the Azore Islands, when 
we again fell in with her, and soon after rejoined 
the fleet off Cadiz. During our cruise we visited 
the Island of Madeira, and stopped there three 
days, in order to take in fresh water and some live 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 75 

stock. Captain Hoste and I dined with Mr. 
Pringle, then the British consul at Funchal, and 
some of the officers were kindly invited to dinner 
by Mr. Gordyn, the wealthiest wine merchant of 
that island. In taking into consideration all the 
vineyards at Madeira, it is quite preposterous to 
believe that this island could ever produce all the 
wines that are yearly consumed in England ; and 
I was told by a person of the highest authority 
then at Madeira, that immense cargoes of white 
wines are yearly introduced from the coast of 
Spain into that island, which are manufactured 
by the skilful English wine merchants into Ma- 
deira wines, and exported accordingly to all parts 
of the world for the genuine article ; a convincing 
proof of the probability of the fact is, that the 
Bronte Madeira wines, alias Marsalla, of Mr. Wood- 
house, which, in spite of the great inferiority of 
Sicilian wines in comparison with those of Spain, 
certainly partake of many of the good qualities 
of real Madeira, hence the great difficulty to de- 
tect the deception. 

A few days before the Amphion and Unity 
rejoined the fleet off Cadiz, towards the evening 
a large ship hove in sight, supposed to be a 
Spanish 74, and Captain Ogle, our commodore, 
immediately made the signal for chace and to 
prepare for action ; we soon were ready ; and this 
immense vessel, which had all the appearance 
of a foreign man-of-war, we perceived was also 



76 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

prepared for action. The Unity took an excel- 
lent position astern of her, in case she should turn 
out an enemy. When we, however, came within 
pistol-shot of her, in the dead of night, Captain 
Hoste ordered me to hail her in Spanish, which 
was answered in Portuguese, and she proved to 
be a very large Portuguese East Indiaman, bound 
for Lisbon. The scene was a very striking one, 
and the Amphion and Unity looked very impos- 
ing during the darkness of the night, on account 
of the fine effect produced by the many lights 
hanging on the beams of the maindeck. The 
suspense of all hands on board, during the interval 
of coming alongside and my hailing her, can 
hardly be described; for we were uncertain whe- 
ther a full broadside might not have been given 
us as an answer, which certainly would have been 
the case, if she had been an enemy. 

Soon after we rejoined Lord Collingwood's 
fleet, the Amphion received orders to proceed on 
a cruise to the Mediterranean, in company with 
the Ajax, 74, and Thunderer, 74, for the purpose 
of reconnoitring the Spanish fleet in Carthagena, 
consisting of about eight sail of the line ; we ac- 
cordingly proceeded there, and as soon as we 
made out the heights of Carthagena, the Amphion 
received further orders to steer right for Cartha- 
gena, to reconnoitre and try to decoy the enemy's 
ships to sea. On coming in sight of the entrance 
of the harbour, we discovered outside two Spa- 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 77 

nish line-of-battle ships, one of which gave us 
chace ; we hoisted the English flag and placed 
the Spanish colours under it, and fired a gun, 
which was a signal for the Ajax and Thunderer. 
The Spanish 74 gave us chace for a full hour, and 
we let her approach us within gun-shot, with 
signals flying of the enemy in sight. The Spa- 
niards could certainly have reached us with their 
long guns, but they did not fire at us. The Ajax 
and Thunderer soon after hove in sight, and had 
the former been a little faster she might have cut 
off the enemy's ship. As soon as we saw the im- 
practicability of doing this, we tacked and short- 
ened sail for the moment, and continued our 
cruise direct for Toulon, the Ajax and Thunderer 
keeping the high sea. We approached close to 
the entrance of Toulon harbour during a pitch- 
dark night and when it was a dead calm, which 
made us keep on the alert, expecting to be at- 
tacked every moment by gun-boats ; yet all went 
off well, and at daybreak we perceived a French 
pollacca ship, which was coming from Marseilles; 
but the southern hills of Toulon keeping the wind 
away from us, we had not a fair chance of coming 
up with her, and she consequently put back to 
Marseilles, and we continued our cruise off Genoa, 
Ostea and Leghorn. 

Marseilles is very advantageously situated, and 
is the principal and most thriving French port in 
the Mediterranean. The country houses round 



78 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

Marseilles are very beautiful. This city has an 
advantage in being so near Toulon, which is one 
of the safest harbours in Europe, on account of its 
narrow entrance. 

Marseilles carries on a great trade with the whole 
Levant, the Mediterranean, with the West Indies, 
and other parts of the world, and has lately be- 
come still more important, since the French have 
possessed Algiers. Not far from Toulon is An- 
tibes, where Napoleon landed from Elba, and only 
interesting on that account. Not far from it is 
Nice, well known for the salubrity of its climate, so 
often beneficial to English invalids. The red wine 
of Nice is perhaps the best in the Mediterranean. 
Marseilles produces a kind of red champagne, 
which is extremely pleasant ; the olives of Mar- 
seilles and Nice are perhaps the best and finest 
in the world. Nice has no harbour; but on the 
east side there is a kind of bay at Villa Franca, 
which has a very dangerous anchorage, on account 
of the dangerous surf which is prevalent, during 
a south-east wind. The whole coast from Nice to 
Vado, near Savona, is rough, and has a romantic 
aspect, interspersed with insignificant villages, 
producing olives and light wines. Savona, once a 
rival of Genoa, is delightfully situated; it pro- 
duces very good fruits, and has some little trade 
in silks; formerly there was a nice little harbour 
here, which the Genoese ruined by sinking some 
galleys laden with stones at the very entrance. 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 79 

Cuculetto, the native town of Christopher Co- 
lumbus, Veltri, and several other places on the 
Marina, are covered with fine buildings, together 
with delightful palaces, belonging to the old Ge- 
noese families. The inhabitants of these towns 
are now nearly all shipwrights, who work at small 
crafts. 

The finest tulle or silk lace comes from Arbisola, 
where there are two fine palaces, which are well 
worth seeing. Genoa, so delightfully situated, is 
now the chief sea-port town of the dominions of 
the King of Piedmont and Sardinia, and trades 
with the whole world. The Genoese are consi- 
dered the most crafty merchants in the world, and 
very seldom is one of them known to be taken in; 
they say that seven Jews and seven Greeks are 
required to take in a Genoese. The Jews find 
great protection in Genoa and Piedmont, particu- 
larly since the strict alliance between Sardinia and 
the House of Austria. The principal trade with 
Piedmont is silk and corn. The wines of Genoa 
are light, and scarcely worth drinking. Their best 
are called Agretto. Those of the interior of Pied- 
mont are somewhat better, and the Vino di Asti 
is a kind of white champagne, which is consi- 
dered a very good lady's wine. Genoa is a very 
strong place, but it requires many troops to de- 
fend it, and garrisons generally run the risk of 
being starved out, on account of the many troops 



80 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

that are required for its protection in time of 
siege. This town capitulated to our troops under 
the command of the gallant Lord William Ben- 
tinck, on condition of being allowed to remain a 
republic: but Lord Castlereagh annulled the ca- 
pitulation signed and approved by Lord William 
Bentinck, and caused Genoa to be incorporated 
with the kingdom of Sardinia, which breach of 
faith the Genoese never can forget, and which 
placed Lord William Bentinck in a most un- 
pleasant position, and which he has deeply felt 
during his lifetime ; but his name is venerated 
throughout the Mediterranean, and well may Sir 
Robert Wilson say, " in the deserts of Lybia and 
throughout Egypt, a British uniform was equally 
respected with the turban of Mahometanism, and 
the word of an Englishman esteemed sacred as the 
Koran." Leghorn, a very thriving seaport, and 
trades with nearly the whole world. The Tuscans 
are the better part of the Italian nation, and their 
soil is rich and productive ; it is considered one 
of the most important places in Italy, and here 
the quarantine regulations are perhaps the severest 
in the world. Naples, most charmingly situated 
in a very fruitful country, is surrounded by beau- 
tiful islands, with an excellent harbour. Not far 
from Mount Vesuvius, and close to Herculaneum 
and Pompeja, the excavations of which towns 
would, perhaps, make the King of Naples the 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 81 

richest of monarchs, if the Neapolitan govern- 
ment would only choose to look a little to its real 
interests ; but alas ! Naples, by some fatality, 
is not sufficiently alive to this, and they think 
too much of the amusements of life, without in- 
teresting themselves for the welfare of their 
offsprings, fully confirming the proverb, " Napoli 
e poi Morire." The olives are here remarkably 
fine, and all kinds of fruits are most abundant. 
The sporting is excellent; quails, woodcocks, red- 
legged partridges, snipes, and all sorts of wild 
fowl, are found in great abundance ; and the wild 
boar and the deer are hunted with great success. 
The Neapolitans are certainly a most excellent 
and sociable nation. They make also good troops, 
if well officered. The island of Ischia, a few 
miles to the south-west of Naples, is one of the 
finest islands in the world ; its baths surpass any 
in Europe ; if there be any virtue in baths, Ischia 
carries off the prize. The walks through the centre 
of the island are wild and most enchanting, par- 
ticularly from the royal bathing mansion to the 
other side of the island, where there are groves of 
chesnut, delightful vineyards and gardens. Ischia 
produces the finest fruits, and an excellent kind 
of white champagne. In 1809, the British army 
under Sir J. Stuart, in union with the Neapolitan 
Sicilian troops, remained at Ischia during six 
weeks. On the arrival of the British expedition 
in the waters of Ischia and Procita, Murat was 

G 



82 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

greatly alarmed, when, the next morning at about 
two o'clock, a. m., our navy captured nineteen of 
the finest Neapolitan cutter-rigged gun-boats, 
which were coming from Gaeta, and which might 
have done very great damage to our transports 
that were full of troops, but which the French 
Neapolitan commandant, most fortunately for us, 
did not attack. The whole coast of Naples and 
its adjacent islands, are famous for quail-shoot- 
ing in the month of April, which arrive in thou- 
sands from Africa, and afford a handsome income 
to the great seigneurs on that coast. When the 
British troops were stationed at Capri, under the 
command of our gallant Sir Hudson Lowe, the 
two regiments, together with the whole garrison, 
received quails during several days for their ra- 
tions instead of fresh meat. 

After having reconnoitred the coast of Italy, as 
far as Naples, we had orders to join Sir Sidney 
Smith's squadron at Palermo, where we had an- 
chored in the month of June, 1806. We found 
there H. M. ships Active, Phoebe, Volage, Capel 
and Shomberg ; the captains being all intimate 
friends of Captain Hoste, we passed three very 
agreeable days together at Palermo. The Ma- 
rina of Palermo is charming, and the Favorita is 
also worth seeing, being stocked with pheasants 
and hares. Monte Reale deserves to be visited 
on account of the fine view which it presents, and 
there are also some old mosaics in the principal 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 83 

church of that little town. A few miles from 
Palermo is one of the celebrated Dominican con- 
vents, where the younger sons of noblemen take 
the vows, and live in a most independent and 
agreeable manner, without being subjected to 
those rigorous restraints peculiar to convents. I 
shall give a more succinct account of the Sicilian 
convents in my subsequent narration. 

We received instructions from Sir Sidney Smith 
to cruise on the coast of Calabria, and to recon- 
noitre all the inland creeks and bays : we accord- 
ingly proceeded towards Policastro Bay. Captain 
Hoste went one day to speak to Sir Sidney Smith 
on that coast, and found him in a cave, seated in 
the midst of some of the Calabrese chieftains, or 
rather bandit, deliberating how he should annoy 
Murat; and we received several proclamations, 
with orders to circulate them on shore amongst 
the inhabitants. One day we came close to Ci- 
rella island, which had a martelio tower, not yet 
manned. Captain Hoste sent a cutter on shore, 
in order to blow it up : the party consisted of 
four sailors, one lieutenant, the marine officer, 
two midshipmen and myself. We stood immedi- 
ately for the island, landed, and undermined 
the tower, and blew it up in a very short time ; 
but, when we wanted to reimbark, we were rather 
disagreeably surprised to find that a stone had 
fallen into the cutter, and made such a hole in her 
that we could not reimbark. Two of our best 

g2 



84 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

sailors fished the cutter with a sail, and steered 
right for the Amphion, which being immediately 
perceived by Captain Hoste, he sent us the second 
cutter, in order to rescue us from the rather awk- 
ward position we were placed in. We then steered 
towards the main land. The officer command- 
ing the cutter asked who would carry Sir Sidney 
Smith's proclamation on shore? I instantly volun- 
teered. On landing, I was determined to fix 
one to the nearest building, which was about 
a hundred yards from the beach. When I arrived 
near it, a man appeared coming down an alley 
towards me ; but, on seeing me, he turned back 
in such haste, that he left his hat behind him. I 
then proceeded to the gate, and fastened two pro- 
clamations on the knocker, and of course walked 
rather rapidly back to the beach ; thinking it 
possible that some of Murat's troops might ap- 
proach, who would not have treated me very well 
if they had caught me with Sir Sidney's procla- 
mations upon me. Captain Hoste did not entirely 
approve of my leaving the boat at so great a 
distance ; but all is well that ends well. Next 
day we carried some more proclamations to the 
Calabrese, but this time I did not venture to go 
on shore, for some of the bandits' countenances 
were so repugnant that I handed them the pro- 
clamations and returned on board. 

On Sunday, as we were cruising off Policastro 
Bay, we fell in with two large feluccas, full 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 85 

of Calibrese women, men, and children, in great 
distress, having fled from their native country. 
I shall never forget that sight, and how the crew 
of the Amphion behaved to those poor sufferers. 
It was in the afternoon when they came alongside 
of us. The Amphion seemed no longer to contain 
sailors, but rather the charitable brethren of some 
convent. The liberal donations of the true-hearted 
British tars exceed all description. Provisions 
of every kind, together with money, were thrown 
into the boat. I looked down upon the affecting 
scene, from the larboard-side stern window, and 
could with difficulty restrain my emotion. The 
Almighty blessed the crew, and subsequently 
secured to them and their noble captain the glo- 
rious victory of Lissa, against a superior squadron 
of French frigates, without much loss on board, 
owing to a sudden and skilful manoeuvre at the 
moment when the French Commodore was bearing 1 
down, by which means the very first broadside of 
the Amphion entirely disabled the Commodore, 
one of the enemy's largest ships, and caused her 
to run on shore at the island of Lissa. 

Towards the beginning of July a lieutenant 
came to bring some further orders of Sir Sidney 
Smith's to Captain Hoste, and informed us that 
Sir Sidney attacked a martello tower in Policastro 
Bay, mounted with two 24-pounders; that in 
taking it the Pompey, 74, had thirty-five men 
killed and wounded, and her mainmast much in- 
jured. 



86 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

We now reconnoitred St. Euphemia bay, where 
we were busily employed during two days. Lieu- 
tenant-General M. Jones was ordered to take 
the soundings of the bay, when some French 
troops began to fire upon his launch, but which 
he dispersed with a twelve-pound swivel, by firing 
grape shot amongst them. Towards the evening 
on that very day, our look-out man called from the 
maintop-gallant mast, a strange sail in sight, that 
looked like a man-of-war. We instantly made a 
private signal, when it proved to be the Apollo fri- 
gate; soon after he called out again, that a fleet 
was in sight; when the Apollo coming closer into 
bay, made a signal to the Amphion to prepare to 
assist to land troops. The Amphion accordingly 
took her station near a small decayed tower, giving 
room for the fleet of transports to anchor in the bay, 
which were coming in, having on board the troops 
from Sicily under the command of Sir John Stuart* 
The next morning was indeed one of the most 
glorious days ever witnessed by any individual 
whose heart was sincerely beating for the cause of 
Great Britain, against the common enemy. The 
78th Highlanders, under the command of the brave 
Colonel Macleod, were the first of the British 
troops that landed, and it certainly was a delight 
to see those brave fellows marching forward into 
the underwood where some French troops were 
seen, and a few hours after we had the satisfaction 
of learning that they had surrounded a Polonese re- 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 87 

giment, which immediately surrendered to them, 
and which were instantly embarked on board five 
or six transports, the Amphion having the order 
to escort them to Millazzo. 

On quitting St. Euphemia Bay, we observed 
the whole of General Regnier's troops in a most 
formidable position to the east of the plains of 
Maida, which Sir John Stuart could not have car- 
ried without sacrificing half of his brave army. 
The French, however, about 7000 strong, seeing 
that our troops could not muster above 5000, 
ventured boldly down to the plain, in order to 
drive us back into our element, as they then used 
to say. Regnier accordingly attacked Sir John 
Stuart's army about ten or eleven o'clock on the 
following morning, sending the IstLeger to charge 
our light infantry battalion, under the command of 
Lieut.-Coionel Kempt. The 1st Leger approached 
our troops within twelve yards, stamping with 
their feet, but seeing them immoveable, they were 
panic struck, and turned round, when the havoc 
began amongst the French army, which was routed 
and attacked from all sides, and obliged to retreat 
with the greatest precipitation. The 78th threw 
off their knapsacks and pursued the flying enemy 
with great ardour, in union with the light com- 
panies of the 10th, 20th, 21st, 27th, 58th, and 
81st Regiments, and together with the flank com- 
panies of the 35th Regiment. 

The Amphion saw the prisoners landed at Mil- 



88 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

lazzo, and hastened back to St. Euphemia Bay, 
where we found our victorious army in possession 
of the field of battle strewed with the fallen, over 
which I rode with some of the officers of the Am- 
phion. We first found some of our own brave fel- 
lows in the sleep of death on the victorious field ; 
but about two hundred yards further we disco- 
vered the plain literally strewed with the enemy. 
For curiosity's sake we collected many letters 
from amongst them, which spoke of their soon 
being in Sicily to drink the good wines, and to 
enjoy themselves. Our army pursued General 
Regnier, who retreated in double quick time to 
Catauzaro, when Sir John Stuart took possession 
of the mountains of Calabria, towards Monte 
Leone, and the Amphion was ordered to go and 
bombard Reggio with the Neapolitan flotilla, 
which place soon surrendered to our troops, and 
thus secured the communication with Sir John 
Stuart's victorious army direct from Messina, by 
Reggio. As soon as Reggio was ours, the Am- 
phion proceeded with a Neapolitan flotilla to 
annoy General Regnier off Catauzaro, where we 
found a brave Calabrese mass of insurgents, 
who, seeing us anchor in the Bay, were bold 
enough to attack General Regnier's advanced 
posts on the hill to the left of Catauzaro. The en- 
gagement began at about ten o'clock in the morn- 
ing, between the Calabrese and the French light 
troops, and lasted for about an hour, during which 



THE ORPHAN" OF NOVOGOROD. 89 

time the Calabrese, about four hundred in num- 
ber, behaved with great bravery. The French 
riflemen sent many balls over our heads, but with 
no effect. About noon, our look-out man from 
the topmast observed the whole French army in 
movement, evidently with the intention of cutting 
off the brave Calabrese. The balls of the French 
riflemen began again to whistle over our ship, 
and we allowed the French troops to come down 
the valley close to the beach, when the Calabrese 
threw themselves into the houses by the sea 
side, and commenced a vigorous fire upon the 
French columns that were advancing from Catau- 
zaro to surround them. The Amphion now took 
a very advantageous station close to the shore, 
and, in union with two Neapolitan gallies and a 
gunboat, under the command of the brave Cap- 
tain Zavallos, who was in direct communication 
with the Calabrese, opened a tremendous fire 
upon the advancing columns of General Regnier's 
army, who soon after retreated back to Catauzaro. 
Seeing himself thus roughly handled by the Cala- 
brese, and by our flotilla on his right, and fearing 
that he might possibly be pursued by Sir John 
Stuart's army in front, he began his retreat towards 
Cosenza. Sir John Stuart sent, in the mean time, 
the brave 78th, under Lieut.- Colonel Macleod, 
which completely shook General Regnier's firm- 
ness, and he precipitately continued his retreat. 
We had only the pleasure of deranging his re- 



90 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

treating army in the plain near Copo Colonna, to 
the right of Cotrone. During this interval our 
brave Calabrese intercepted a courier from Murat 
to General Regnier, which Captain Hoste opened 
and read ; that the Emperor learned with great 
displeasure, of the panic that had seized the 1st 
Leger at Maida, ordering him to concentrate at 
Cosenza. Colonel Macleod and Captain Hoste 
determined on attacking Cotrone Castle. We 
arrived before it towards the evening with one 
Neapolitan gun-boat, commanded by Captain 
Zavallos, and six transports with the 78th on 
board. The Amphion took her station on the 
west side of the castle, and the gun-boat and 
transports to the south east side, as if ready to 
land. The French fired several shots at the Am- 
phion, one of which cut her halyards in two. 
We only fired one shot in return, right over the 
civil governor's house, grazing his roof, which had 
a better effect than we might have expected, for 
it completely alarmed the whole town, who were 
afraid of seeing their best houses battered down. 

The next morning Captain Hoste and Colonel 
Macleod ordered Major Macdonell of the 78th, 
Lieut. Bailey, first lieutenant, and myself acting 
as interpreter, to go and summon the French 
commandant to surrender at discretion. We were, 
of course, received by the French with the usual 
precautions, and conducted to the castle, where 
the commandant received us very politely. I was 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 91 

obliged to explain the conditions, which were soon 
agreed to by the commandant, who, seeing the 
stern determination of Major Macdonell, agreed 
to capitulate, surrendering with his garrison as 
prisoners of war, consisting of about 600 Poles 
and 100 French artillerymen, together with all the 
military stores, &c. The French troops, accord- 
ing to the capitulation made out by me, in French, 
surrendered the next morning, and were em- 
barked for Messina the same day, and the 78th 
took possession of the town and castle of Cotrone, 
which occurrence was celebrated by the civil 
governor of the town giving us a grand dinner, 
to which most of the officers of the Amphion and 
the 78th were invited. A few days after, the 78th 
was relieved by a Neapolitan regiment from Mes- 
sina ; and the Amphion thus completed her duty 
on that coast, after seeing Calabria freed of the 
French yoke, the fruits of the glorious battle of 
Maida, gained on the 4th of July, 1806. 

On the 25th of September of the same year, I 
entered into the British commissariat at Messina, 
in which department I have served up to 1831, 
and have had the advantage of being employed 
almost on all the expeditions that sailed from 
Sicily and Genoa between 1806 and 1815. 



92 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 



SEVENTH NARRATION. 

As I have already mentioned, on the 25th of 
September 1806, I entered on the commissariat 
duties at Messina, taking charge of the stores in 
the forts Gonzago and Castellaccio. Sir William 
Hoste was good enough to offer me, through Sir 
John Stuart, as a reward for my services on the 
coasts of Spain and Italy, an ensign's commission 
in one of the foreign regiments serving in Sicily, 
which I declined to accept, and by the kind 
suggestion of my good friend Lieutenant Boothby, 
Royal Engineers, now the Rev. C. Boothby, I 
shortly afterwards entered into the British com- 
missariat service at Messina, under Commissary- 
General Sir George Burgmann, serving with the 
army under Lieutenant-General Sir John Stuart. 
Early in 1807, Sir John Moore fitted out an expe- 
dition for Egypt, composed of about 5000 men, 
under the command of Major-General Mackenzie 
Fraser, and I was ordered to proceed on that expe- 
dition. We left Messina in February and reached 
Egypt in March, in two divisions. General Fraser, 
on arriving with the first division, landed imme- 
diately on the south-west side of Alexandria, and 
invested the place in a most masterly style ; the 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 93 

day after, the second division arrived in Aboukir 
Bay, and the troops instantly landed and marched 
up the heights of Alexandria to join General 
Fraser, where we arrived in the evening. Some 
officers of the De Rolle's regiment gave up to me 
a small hut, made of leaves of date trees, to pass 
the night in ; and I must acknowledge that I felt 
very cold with the morning dew, and, as one may 
suppose, I slept very little, being the first day 
of my campaigning. Early in the morning we 
were roused with the agreeable news that Alex- 
andria had capitulated to us, by allowing Ali 
Pacha to withdraw with his troops to Rosetta. 
We entered Alexandria the same day, more like 
friends than enemies, for the Turks held the 
British arms at that time in great respect, in spite 
of Colonel Drovetti, the French consul-general. 
By subsequent expostulations, Colonel Drovetti 
was, however, more successful with Ali Pacha, as 
will be seen hereafter. 

The expedition consisted of the 78th High- 
landers, 35th and 31st, De Rolle's Chasseurs 
Britanniques, and the Royal Sicilian regiments ; 
about twenty dragoons of the 20th Light Dra- 
goons, under Lieutenant De Lancy, together with 
a few artillerymen and engineers. The Turks kept 
up a small artillery fire on us during the first day 
of our investing Alexandria, but without causing 
any loss to our troops, with the exception of a 
Sicilian assistant-surgeon, who would quit De 



94 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

Rolle's regiment and go behind a hill to avoid 
the shots of the Turks; but the regiment suddenly 
moving on to the right, the poor fellow found 
himself quite alone, and was soon taken by the 
Turks, who cut off his head, &c. in the Turkish 
style, and stuck it up on the fort on the top of a 
pole as a trophy ; which is a salutary lesson to 
every one, never to abandon his corps without 
absolute necessity. 

On entering Alexandria, I found the town built 
upon a similar plan as Algiers and Tangiers, with 
narrow streets, and the houses well built of stone, 
with small but immensely strong gates. 

As I was one day walking about the streets of 
Alexandria, whom should I meet but my friend 
and travelling companion who related to me part 
of the story of the Orphan of Novogorod at 
Trieste. He gave me a great deal of good advice 
as to how I should live in Egypt in order to keep 
my health. Observing that nearly one-third of 
the inhabitants had lost one eye, I expressed to 
him my fear of the ophthalmia ; but, on looking 
at my eyes, he assured me that I need not be 
afraid of it, since very few persons who have blue 
eyes get that complaint, and if they are attacked 
by it, it seldom proves fatal, provided they be a 
little cautious. He also advised me to try to 
breathe by the nose as I went along the streets, 
and in crossing any deserts or marshes, since that 
precaution is a great preventive against the plague 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 95 

and the malaria fevers. As he was settled in 
Alexandria, I often went to pass the evenings 
with him, and had the opportunity of hearing the 
remainder of the adventures of the Orphan of 
Novogorod, which will appear in the Eighth 
Narration. 

After having remained for many weeks in quiet 
possession of Alexandria, giving thus an ample 
opportunity to Ali Pacha to know our entire 
strength, which, in fact, he was not long in as- 
certaining, through the assistance of that most 
active officer of Napoleon's, Colonel Drovetti, who, 
in fact, directed all the movements of Ali Pacha 
against us. The garrison of Alexandria was really 
in want of nothing, as the Bedouin Arabs sup- 
plied us over the deserts with corn and cattle ; 
we had also afloat large supplies of biscuits and 
salt provisions, and the Greek islands supplied us 
with excellent wines. 

The first expedition, which was undertaken 
under the command of General Waukope, with 
the 31st Regiment and Chasseurs Britanniques, 
put the Turks immediately to flight, and we en- 
tered Rosetta without any difficulty. Our troops 
marched quietly into the town, and piled their 
arms in order to refresh themselves, and while 
thus occupied, the French consul, Drovetti, ha- 
rangued Ali Pacha, telling him what a shame it 
was for 8000 Turks to fly before 2000 men ; he 
thus prevailed on Ali Pacha to re-enter the town 



96 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

by the rear of the houses, and advance over the 
tops of them to the square and main streets* 
where our troops were resting, from whence they 
opened a destructive fire upon us, killing and 
wounding about 600 of our men in a very short 
time. From the streets of Rosetta being very 
narrow, we had not the least chance of defending 
ourselves, since every Turkish house is provided 
with a strong gate and shutters, which could not 
be opened without great exertion. General 
Waukope was killed, and General Meade badly 
wounded. The remainder of our troops rallied 
outside the town, and retreated regularly to Alex- 
andria. Soon afterwards a second expedition 
was determined upon, under the command of the 
Hon. General Stewart, who took with him the 
78th Highlanders, the Be Rolle's Regiment and 
35th Regiment, with some artillery. We invested 
Rosetta and bombarded it, to however very little 
purpose. The Turks returned the fire, and we 
were thus daily losing our men. In the mean 
time, Ali Pacha received reinforcements from 
Cairo, and General Stewart ordered Colonel 
Macleod, with 700 men, composed of the 78th 
and De Rolles' Regiment, to advance to Elhamed, 
in order to observe the enemy's movements from 
the side of Cairo, when, by some unlucky ma- 
nagement, we did not keep up a regular line 
of communication between the main body and 
Colonel Macleod's detachment, in consequence 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 97 

of which, poor Colonel Macleod fell a victim, with 
his whole detachment, owing to the immense 
superiority in point of numbers of the Turkish 
troops, who poured in upon them from all quar- 
ters, and thus occasioned the disaster that befel 
this handful of our best and bravest troops. 

Ali Pacha, continually directed by Colonel 
Drovetti, advanced rapidly upon our besieging 
army before Rosetta, and soon forced us to retreat, 
which we did in a masterly style, notwithstanding 
the immense superiority of the Turks, who came 
upon us with great rapidity in huge masses, but 
were not able to break our squares, and were 
continually repulsed until we crossed the cut of 
the canal near the Lake Mariotis. Here the Turks 
gave up the pursuit, and left us quietly in pos- 
session of Alexandria, from which circumstance 
it was evident that Ali Pacha was not much dis- 
posed to wage war against the British, as from 
that time all hostilities between us had nearly 
ceased ; and the treatment shown to our poor pri- 
soners confirms the idea that the pacha was rather 
favourable to the British nation. 

I was stationed at Alexandria during the failure 
of these two expeditions, and during that time 
had frequent opportunities of viewing the lines 
and positions on the heights of Alexandria and 
Aboukir, where seven years before, the glorious 
victory was gained by the ever-lamented General 
Abercrombie* I visited this spot with some officers 

H 



98 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

of De Rolle's regiment who were in that engage- 
ment against the French, and there was still 
to be seen many a bleached skull, particularly in 
the lines where the French cavalry had been cut 
to pieces. Every British officer may indeed be 
proud of this battle, since it was gained by hard 
fighting, and by dint of the courage and in- 
trepidity, in the awful moment when the immense 
body of the French cavalry charged the British 
infantry. From those heights Aboukir Bay is 
visible, where the great battle of the Nile was 
fought by Lord Nelson, and crowned with a com- 
plete victory, thus immortalising those waters and 
the shores of Africa. 

The loss of poor Colonel Macleod's detachment 
may be attributed in a great measure to the want 
of portable field day and night telegraphs, with 
which every regiment ought to be provided, and 
some intelligent privates should be instructed how 
to manage them. They could be easily con- 
structed, of very light materials, so that one bat 
horse could carry half-a-dozen of them for every 
regiment. 

The advantages derived from them are of the 
highest importance to any army in the field, and 
may often insure the victory against a very supe- 
rior force, which is not provided with similar 
telegraphs. The British army possessing so many 
experienced officers, could easily improve them 
to such a degree, that they might be fixed to the 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 99 

top of high trees, and be thus worked to a very 
great advantage, not only to communicate by one 
telegraph, but even as many as twenty- four at 
once, giving thus the most important commu- 
nications to an army of 60,000 men in a few 
moments. I am quite sure, that if the quarter- 
master-general's deputy had established similar 
telegraphs, the disaster at Elhamed would never 
have taken place. 

But to return, the prisoners that had the good 
fortune to be sent to Cairo fared indeed very well, 
but those poor fellows who had the misfortune to 
fall into private hands, had to undergo most try- 
ing and revolting hardships ; amongst whom was 
poor Baron de Sonnenberg, nephew to M. Ge- 
neral Sonnenberg, a very fine young man, com- 
manding the De Rolle's Swiss regiment. He was 
taken by one of the nabobs of the pacha of 
Egypt and made a slave of, and was obliged to 
submit to the most humiliating and degrading 
situations ; his master led him by a rope round 
his neck through the towns in the interior of 
Egypt; and on one occasion ordered him to do 
some degrading office, which he refused, and in 
consequence he was beaten black and blue in a 
most dreadful manner, so that a couple of months 
after, when his uncle, then Colonel Baron Son- 
nenberg, released him by paying a certain ran- 
som, his body was yet covered with the marks of 
the blows he had received during his captivity ; 

h2 



100 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

and this treatment, alas ! changed him to an 
alarming degree. He obtained leave of absence 
and went to England, in hopes that by change 
of scene and climate he would recover ; but the 
brutal treatment which he had received from the 
barbarians in Egypt made a dreadful change 
in his once mild and gentle temper. He returned 
from England to rejoin the De Rolle's regiment in 
Messina, and embarked on board a transport, 
which took out the several detachments and re- 
cruits of the regiments then serving in Sicily ; 
and most unfortunately for young Sonnenberg, 
an officer of most disagreeable manners had the 
command of the detachment on board the trans- 
port, who, on several occasions during the pas- 
sage, behaved to young Sonnenberg not very un- 
like his late tyrannical master in Egypt, which 
roused the poor fellow's former distressed state 
of mind to such a degree, that he unfortunately 
committed himself and challenged his command- 
ing officer, the consequence of which was, that 
he was tried by a court-martial at Messina, and 
of course cashiered. The officer, however, after- 
wards met with his deserts in America; for, in 
consequence of his bad conduct during the late 
war with that country, he was tried by a court- 
martial and ordered to leave the service. 

During my stay in Egypt, I also made acquaint- 
ance with some Armenians of superior talents, 
amongst whom was a merchant of the name of 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 101 

Casare Faraone Cassis, a man of superior natural 
talent, which I never expected to find in so bar- 
barous a country as Egypt ; but the truth is, that 
I passed many agreeable and interesting evenings 
in his company at Alexandria, and had the op- 
portunity of learning many things that took place 
in Egypt during our expedition there, which con- 
vinced me that it is of the greatest importance to 
appoint young and middle aged intelligent mili- 
tary and naval officers to act as consuls and 
diplomatic agents abroad, since it always greatly 
influences sooner or later the political relations 
with the country where such agents and ministers 
are required. 

I shall not easily forget my acquaintance with 
Mr. Cesare Faraone Cassis. My friend, the 
Orphan of Novogorod, also expressed his sur- 
prise when he heard of our subsequent crusade 
against Rosetta ; and he, without any rhetorical 
figures, remarked to me, that when Napoleon 
had landed in Egypt, he gave no time to the 
flying enemy, but ordered the troops imme- 
diately after their landing to proceed to Rosetta, 
and to continue their march to Cairo, and by 
this rapid movement he met with no resistance, 
and quietly took possession of the whole of Egypt. 
Napoleon could very well have done this with 
so numerous an army ; but how could we have 
acted otherwise, with only 5,000 men, after hav- 
ing taken possession of Alexandria : hence the 



102 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

words of that noble and brave officer occurred 
again to me, who said to Maj or- General M'Kenzie 
Fraser, " Go to Egypt, you will take Alexandria, 
but if you go further you will be surely lost;" 
which saying poor General Fraser kept in mind, 
till at last he allowed himself to be overruled by 
well meaning men, but who had not a thorough 
insight into the great difficulties of a small army 
marching into the interior of a country, in which 
almost every atom of sand may be considered as 
an enemy to the invading army. I really think, 
that had General Fraser first conceived the ro- 
mantic idea of marching to Cairo with his hand- 
ful of men, he would actually have taken that 
city ; but the certain loss of his whole army 
would have been the consequence of so mad an 
enterprise. 

The Bedouin Arabs still recollected the British 
generosity, were indefatigable in supplying us 
with wheat, meat and poultry ; and it was very 
interesting to see them distributing the monies 
amongst themselves, which they received from 
us, in the great hall of the Custom House Office, 
at Alexandria. The wheat of Egypt is light if 
well cleaned, and produces a very good bread. 
The meat of the buffaloes and sheep is very rich, 
so that European troops acting in that country 
should not be allowed to consume more than half 
a pound. Poultry is plentiful in Egypt, on ac- 
count of the way of hatching the eggs in ovens, 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 103 

which plan I am induced to think ought to be in- 
troduced into all countries, for the comfort of the 
inhabitants in general, and particularly for the 
poor, which would be indeed a great blessing for 
the infirm and destitute in Great Britain. We 
certainly were often in distress for fresh water, 
but which could have been removed by intro- 
ducing the distilling machines, by which means 
salt water can be reduced into fresh water. 
Troops should be provided with these when on 
duty in places where fresh water is wanting. 

The country about Alexandria is entirely bar- 
ren, with the exception of a few artificial gar- 
dens outside of the town, which are watered by 
team-machines, from wells of brackish water. In 
time of peace, Alexandria is never in want of 
fresh water, as it is supplied through a canal 
from the Nile. The only tree that vegetates in 
Alexandria and its environs, is the date tree, the 
utility of which is incalculable : its fruits, as it is 
well known, is delicious, and from its bark the 
Egyptians make ropes ; and out of its branches 
a skilful campaigner can make a very good and 
comfortable hut, to shelter himself from the sun 
and rain. But the Egyptians are without rain for 
nearly seven months. The climate of Alexandria 
is moderate, being near the sea ; but when the 
south wind comes on, the atmosphere towards the 
deserts becomes darkened, and it is then only that 
the inconvenience of the climate is materially 



104 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

felt, when the sand penetrates into every thing ; 
and even the bread is impregnated with it, which 
is very disagreeable to the teeth. Wine is ge- 
nerally supplied from Cyprus and the Greek 
islands. 

The harbour of Alexandria is rather inconve- 
nient, but it admits ships of all sizes. Alexandria 
has the advantage of the Lake Mariotis, by the 
means of which the heavy ships need not come 
up to the city, but could unload their goods in 
Aboukir Bay, and forward them to Alexandria 
on the lake, and partly on the canal of the Nile ; 
and Alexandria could easily be made an island, 
by uniting the lake with the sea in the har- 
bour. 

The ruins round Alexandria are very interest- 
ing ; and it is to be regretted, that they have 
not been regularly explored, as I am sure that 
such a work would lead to discoveries of anti- 
quities, and perhaps to many treasures. Diocle- 
tian's monument, or the so-called Pompey's pil- 
lar, is an astonishing work ; it rests upon a very 
narrow basis, considering its immense size and 
weight. The old ruins present to the human eye 
a specimen of superior skill in masonry ; and 
the bricks in particular bid defiance to any of our 
era, as they have stood for ages exposed to the 
inclemencies of the seasons, and are still stronger 
than any of our modern bricks. 

There is very good sport during the quail 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 105 

season, and the passage of the turtle doves. The 
Arabs make a terrible havoc amongst them during 
the hot days; they lay three flat stones on the 
ridges of the sand hills, and then go in the val- 
lies amongst the date bushes, and frighten the 
poor birds out of them, which immediately fly to 
these ridges, and seek a shelter under the stones : 
the Arabs then visit them two by two, carrying a 
net with them, which they let fall over the stones, 
and thus catch hundreds of quails, which they 
bring afterwards to Alexandria for sale. Euro- 
pean sportsmen generally go and seek their game 
amongst the date bushes. There is another kind of 
small turtle dove, which are quite domesticated, 
and roost upon trees and houses in and about 
Alexandria, which are scarcely even noticed. 

The wild dogs in Egypt are a kind of vulpine 
breed, and are seen in herds about Alexandria, 
some even come into the town, but they are 
never molested by the natives, as they are of 
great service to the inhabitants, since they 
devour during the night all the carcasses of 
the dead animals, which the natives drag out 
of the town in the evening. There is a 
great abundance of large field rats round the 
city, with short fore-legs, and very long hind- 
legs; they always make their way by jumping, 
and so uncommonly well, that I would defy any 
greyhound to catch them. There are also jackals, 
one of which I wanted to hunt, but my 



106 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

sport did not last long, since in galloping after 
the poor animal, my horse fell into a hole, and 
over I went on the sand, without however being 
hurt, but that accident cured me of being an 
amateur of fox-hunting. I shall say nothing of 
the fruitful country on the borders of the Nile, 
since it has been so often touched upon by many 
other writers. Alexandria, in point of commerce, 
is a very important place. Egypt is still now 
the granary of Europe, and the great depdt of 
cotton. 

The present viceroy of Egypt has improved 
the commerce of Egypt to a degree which might 
do honour to any enlightened European monarch. 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 107 



EIGHTH NARRATION. 

In the beginning of September, 1807, we pre- 
pared to peaceably evacuate Alexandria ; I there- 
fore entreated my friend to finish his tale of the 
Orphan of Novogorod, and he thus continued it. 
" I could not sufficiently admire the excellent 
public institutions of New Jerusalem, and deter- 
mined to go to see Sion, which was the capital. 
My friend enabled me to accomplish this ob- 
ject sooner than I anticipated ; for one morn- 
ing after breakfast he asked me whether I 
should like to accompany him to the capital, 
where he intended to go in the course of a couple 
of days. I answered him in the affirmative, 
and we left New Jerusalem in a boat worked 
by clock machinery, nearly in the same manner 
as their land carriages, but on a much larger 
scale. He told me that the machinery of the 
boat we were in was 200 horse-power, with pad- 
dles placed under the water, by which reason 
scarcely any agitation of the water could be per- 
ceived, nor was there the least shock felt on 
board from the movement of the machinery, 
although the boat was propelled at the rate of 
fifteen miles per hour. The machinery was 



108 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

placed in the middle of the vessel, covered over 
by immensely thick cristal panes, through which 
the whole of the works could be viewed. It was 
put in motion by a sort of pendulum fixed in the 
middle of the clock-work, and the great power, 
which actually propelled the machinery, pro- 
ceeded from six immense springs, which were 
wound up every six hours. The velocity of the 
boat was augmented by p the improved mechanism 
of many parts of the machinery, and by this 
ingenious invention doing away with all dangers 
of fire and explosions, which no doubt the per- 
severing genius of man will eventually accom- 
plish in this country. We had a strong head 
wind during the whole of our passage, and yet 
arrived early next morning in the great harbour 
of Sion, which is situate in a vast undulating- 
plain covered with woods. The town is built 
upon the same plan as New Jerusalem, but 
upon a much larger scale. On our entering the 
harbour we fired a gun, which was returned 
from the castle situated on a height in the cen- 
tre of Sion, from which place could be viewed 
the magnificent imperial palace, which was 
erected on a gentle elevation, surrounded by 
delightful gardens intersected by rivers and 
small lakes, which communicated to two larger 
rivers to the east and west, upon which were 
seen ships sailing up and down with their colours 
flying, bearing the emblem of the most Holy 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 109 

Trinity, with the motto "Concordia et Prospe- 
ritas." The regulations of the public institutions 
were the same as those of New Jerusalem, 
already described. My friend took me to his 
brother's house,, where I met with the kindest 
reception, and soon found myself at home. The 
next day the two brothers took me to visit the 
great monarch of that truly happy land. On ar- 
riving at the castle I observed neither centinels 
nor guards. The regulations of the visiting hours 
and the necessary etiquettes were plainly written 
on large golden tables. On entering the great 
hall we approached the monarch, and saluted 
him in a becoming manner, which he kindly re- 
turned, and we took our seats on the still unoc- 
cupied arm-chairs. Soon after the monarch rose, 
and we approached him by turns, saluting him in 
a respectful manner ; my two friends then pre- 
sented me to him. His majesty was pleased to 
invite us to his private evening party, which took 
place between ten and twelve o'clock in the 
evening. We then took leave and walked over 
the whole of the imperial mansion and the beau- 
tiful gardens. The palace is a succession of 
buildings round a beautiful little hill, one Eng- 
lish mile in circumference, and covered with 
trees, shrubs, and all sorts of fragrant plants. 
The whole palace is built of bricks, four stories 
high, upon immense large arches of beautiful 
marble, which afford fine promenades during 



110 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

the hot weather or in rainy weather; through 
these glide beautifully streams filled with trout 
and other fish, which communicated with the 
two larger rivers. On the first floor are all the 
public offices : the second is occupied by his 
majesty and all the attendants of the court. 
On the third floor reside all the public officers 
belonging to the different offices of the court; 
while the fourth is reserved for all the underlings 
who are attached to the various public offices. 
The ascent to these four stories is almost imper- 
ceptible. The apartments are very lofty, and are 
provided with spacious galleries going all around 
the palace, which are lined with all kinds of 
shrubs, which give it more the appearance of a 
delightful shrubbery during the whole year, and 
the little birds take advantage of these peaceful 
retreats to build their nest, so that they may 
bring up their young families in security, reward- 
ing the passers-by with their varied warblings, 
a delightful language to those who can appreciate 
the beauties of nature. It is impossible to de- 
scribe the beauty of the delightful hill, which is 
situated in the centre of this stately building, in 
which are concentrated all the public offices, in- 
stitutions and universities within reach of each 
other, and the monarch living unmolested in the 
midst of them, is ready to visit at any time any 
department without the least inconvenience to 
himself or others. All the rules and regula- 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. Ill 

tions are besides so easy and plain, that they are 
understood by any individual possessed of com- 
mon sense, which is indeed a great blessing for 
any government, since many of the ordinances 
now-a-days are so filled up with technicalities and 
far-fetched expressions, that they often cannot be 
clearly expounded even by the very persons who 
framed them, and must be guessed at by others 
who may be influenced by similar decrees, and 
reminds one of those of the Oracle of Delphos. 
It is generally admitted in all countries that the 
best written books are always those which are 
compiled in the plainest and most comprehensive 
terms; how much plainer then should be the 
laws and ordinances of any country ! When the 
clock struck ten we proceeded to the imperial 
palace, which was magnificently lighted with a 
kind of gas, which spread a most grateful per- 
fume both outside and inside. Most kindly we 
were received by that truly happy monarch, who 
must have been verging on his 150th year, and 
looked very cheerful and active. Of course I 
was obliged to relate the whole of my sub- 
terraneous adventures, and how I made my ap- 
pearance in his realms. I was at first quite 
astonished to find how well his Majesty, and 
indeed most of the intelligent inhabitants, 
were acquainted with our customs ; but after 
having been shown their libraries and reading- 
rooms, I soon reconciled myself to the fact, 



112 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

as I here found books of six months standing in 
English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, 
Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Da- 
nish, Swedish, Hindostan and Persian languages, 
all of which had been cast up by the sea in the 
different quarters of his realm, and collected 
from foundered vessels of various nations. They 
also spoke of the frequent appearance of a 
Dutch rigged vessel in those parts of the sea 
opposite to the Atlantic Ocean, and the antipodes 
of the Cape of Good Hope and the Canary 
Islands, which is a sure indication of the found- 
ering of some of our ships which are crossing 
that part of the ocean ; and the vessels therefore 
cruising on those seas give signals to each other 
to look out for the various ships which are cast 
on shore, and on board of which are found books, 
newspapers, and all other articles belonging to 
our world ; and by this means are they ac- 
quainted with all our arts and sciences and pur- 
suits in life. They compassionate our follies, for 
they observe that we generally make each other 
miserable through our own selfish hearts, and 
that we continually fall a prey to misery and 
depravity, which bring on all other calamities 
upon us. They ascribe these calamities to the 
false principles and education we give to our 
children, in not sufficiently inculcating into them 
the necessity of always speaking the truth, 
which is the root of many of the miseries of this 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 113 

life. This however is not known in the happ t y 
realm where I then found myself; and I was not 
a little alarmed when they told me that none of 
those who came alive to them, like myself, could 
get rid of that abominable system of dissimula- 
tion, which humbles them to such a degree, that 
they get attacked by a kind of melancholy, 
giving them no peace till they retire to certain 
mysterious subterraneous walks in the moun- 
tains, from which they never return, and all 
that has hitherto been ascertained respecting 
them is from some philosophers, who ventured to 
explore those caverns, and arrived at last at im- 
mense fissures descending in a slanting direction, 
at the bottom of which were streams of uncom- 
mon strength and velocity, carrying away any 
thing that was thrown upon them. There are 
again other places from which are heard at cer- 
tain times all kinds of noises, sometimes like 
men who are talking very loud, then again voci- 
ferations of the most revolting nature in various 
languages ; at other times the distant sound of 
martial music, vast armies marching in battle 
array, and military words of command mingled 
with the neighing of horses and the blast of the 
bugle ; all these are heard, and yet no one has 
discovered from whence they proceed, and on 
this account those places are but rarely visited 
by anybody, except by a committee of elders, 

i 



114 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

who are obliged to report whenever they hear of 
any of these extraordinary noises, as they may 
lead to the discovery of the cause, but all efforts 
have hitherto proved abortive. After a fort- 
night's stay in the capital, my friend returned to 
New Jerusalem, and I remained at the house of 
his brother, with the intention of preparing my- 
self for the requisite examination previous to 
entering the university for the study of theology, 
for which, I had conceived, I was fitted ; and in 
the course of one year I entered into holy orders, 
and was sent at my own request to one of the 
small villages situated close to those wonderful 
and mysterious mountains. In this happy coun- 
try, which is called Chastnu Kraileftvu, I passed 
a most delightful time for nearly two years, oc- 
casionally visiting my friends in New Jerusalem 
and Sion. I was invited by the monarch to assist 
at the great assembly of the divine elders, con- 
sisting of a hundred members, whose venerable 
heads had been bleached by 300 to 350 winters. 
By that memorable assembly, I found had been 
composed three addresses, intended for our three 
principal Christian churches. It was to the fol- 
lowing effect : — 

" To the chief Shepherd of the Churches, and 
" to all the dignitaries of that church, blessings 
" and peace ! 

" The clergy and elders of this country so hap- 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 115 

** pily situated, and free from all worldly strife, 
" observe with the deepest regret the dreadful ra- 
" vages and dissensions which have been brought 
" on by designing, interested, and often very igno- 
" rant persons at the head of these principal Ca» 
" tholic churches, to the great detriment of the 
" propagation of that universal faith which had 
" been originally instituted by our blessed Saviour 
" Jesus Christ, and subsequently sealed by his 
" most precious blood ; and which had been 
" faithfully preached and handed down to us by 
" his holy apostles in the old time, and which we 
" would not on any account alter. How simple and 
" innocent were their doctrines and their prayers ; 
" the great command was ' repent ,' — believe in 
" Jesus Christ, be baptised, and you shall be for- 
" given and saved. When our blessed Saviour in- 
" stituted the Holy Sacrament, he required in us 
" nothing more than purity of heart, and repent- 
" ance of our sins ; he never ordered an auricular 
" confession, which it is known has been insti- 
* tuted by designing tyrants some centuries ago, 
" in order to have a control over the consciences 
" of men for the perpetration of their own wicked 
" designs during those dark ages. We appeal in the 
" name of Jesus Christ, to ask your hearts how 
" much mischief the auricular confessions have 
" produced, and are still producing ? How many 
" young men and maidens and virtuous women 
" have been scandalized, nay even led into temp- 

i 2 



116 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

" tation by their confessors ? And what is the 
" awful consequence of a similar abuse? That 
" the confession begins to be looked upon as a 
" mockery by all enlightened Catholics in Ger- 
" many, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. Mil- 
" lions of souls are spurned away from the holy 
" and true religion, which the holy fathers of the 
" Catholic and Greek Catholic religion could 
" easily obviate by causing the general confession 
" to be read to them every Sunday in their 
" churches, and giving them the general and full 
" absolution of their sins in the same manner and 
" with the same power as a Catholic field chap- 
" lain is empowered to give and to pronounce 
6 over the whole army previous to their taking 
" the field ; and let us ask you, beloved fathers, 
" by what right do you keep a similar rite and 
" blessing from your flocks, who heartily confess 
" their sins to God through Jesus Christ, and 
" who wish for an absolution of the same with a 
" true and penitent heart ? How can you answer 
" for your keeping that blessing from mankind, 
" and thus alienating and frightening millions of 
" panting souls from your folds ? Alas ! hence 
"the schisms, massacres, murders, and other sacri- 
" legious deeds, which would be endless to enu- 
" me rate, and would fill our hearts with horror 
" and dismay, and which confirms the infidels of 
" all classes in their opinion, that our Christian 
" religion is of a savage, blood -thirsty, and revenge- 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 117 

" ful nature, and of the most dangerous kind ; and 
" that by similar persecutions they afford con- 
" elusive reasonings, that either the Holy Bible, 
" and particularly the New Testament, is a mere 
" mockery, and full of hypocritical notions which 
" few of the elders are following; since the holy 
" fathers, the great guardians, are so remiss in 
" following its sayings, they then conclude how 
" much more remiss must their flocks be ; hence 
" they also imagine that our Christian religion is 
" one of vanity, and not worthy to be followed. 
" This encourages some vain men, such as the 
" Jews, and the enemies of the Christian faith in 
" general, to write such dangerous books against 
" it, and emboldens them to try and undermine 
" the Holy Gospel by ridiculing it : they thus 
" check the propagation of the Christian faith to 
" an alarming degree, and cause the perdition of 
" millions and millions of souls ! And what is 
" the cause of it ? Selfishness, obstinacy, and 
" weakness, and resulting also from the feelings 
" of revenge of several of the misguided chief 
" dignitaries of the various churches, and where- 
" in, alas ! some members of the two most en- 
" lightened of these had and still have the great- 
" est share in this unwarrantable strife ; they do 
'* not consider that they will both have to answer 
" for all the disasters and schisms which they 
" are thus causing amongst Christians. On the 
"other hand, some Catholics, forgetting that they 



118 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

" owe their faith to this very Catholic religion, 
" which they foolishly call by all sorts of bad 
" names, and thus blaspheme their own real 
" mother church, and that merely on account of 
" some wicked, ignorant fanatics, who four hun- 
" dred years ago caused all those evils that have 
" been already enumerated ; but alas ! is the 
" Holy Universal Catholic Religion to be so 
" cruelly and unmercifully condemned and ab- 
"■ horred, with all the millions of its followers, on 
" account of a handful of ignorant, selfish, and 
" misguided madmen ? Is that the principle on 
" which our Saviour has established the Christian 
" faith ? Of what avail did Jesus Christ teach 
" us to forgive each other, if we wish to be for- 
" given, and not only seven times but seventy 
" times seven ? Some fanatical and ignorant cler- 
" gymen of various sects, on the other hand, 
" thinking to hunt down the Catholic Church, 
" declare that some of the Catholics worship the 
« Virgin Mary and the Saints ; whereas, if they 
" would coolly examine the purified rites of the 
" simple faith, they would find to their surprise 
" that Catholics do not adore or worship the 
" blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints, but inno- 
" cently invoke both her and them to intercede 
" with God in the name of our blessed Saviour 
" Jesus Christ; and what harm can there be in 
" this notion ? Another portion of the Catholic 
" faith acknowledges the communion of Saints. 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 119 

" Then the learned Protestant fathers go; further 
" and say, that the Catholic priests pretend to 
" give absolution of sins to their flocks, and does 
" not the English Catholic faith to a certain 
" degree hold the same consoling notion, with 
" the exception of some formalities ? As for pay- 
" ing money for the absolution of one's sins, there 
" are indeed very few Catholic clergymen who 
" would do such a thing in these days, nor are 
" there any priests who would now a days hold 
" forth such a notion. With regard to alms- 
" giving to churches, we must say that the whole 
" Christian faith is grounded upon charity; and 
" if such alms be given with a sincere heart, and 
" with good intentions, they cannot fail of being 
" acceptable to God, and are entitled to be re- 
" membered with gratitude by those who have 
" been intrusted with such gifts. 

" We beg now to embrace all the chiefs and 
" dignitaries of the Christian faith, and conjure 
" them to consider, and bear well in mind, that, 
" owing to their mutual obstinacy and discord, 
" the Christian faith is not making that rapid 
" progress which it otherwise would. That the 
" Dissenting sects are increasing in America to 
" an alarming degree, which sects have more par- 
" ticularly originated from the Protestant religion. 
" It is indeed necessary at this time, to unite, to 
" forget, to forgive, and to cede on both sides. 



120 THE ORPHAN OF NQVOGOROD. 

" Let the holy fathers of England, Rome, Ger- 
" many and France, be united ; nay, let the 
" fathers of all Christians make a covenant be- 
" tween themselves ; and let them adhere with 
" truth and simplicity to the very same creed, 
" reminding each other no longer of their past 
" errors, weaknesses and follies ; but let them 
" follow the example of our great priest, Jesus 
" Christ, who said, ' A house that is divided 
" within itself cannot stand but must fall.' Let 
" the holy fathers all unite against the common 
" enemy ; let them call upon the enlightened 
" monarchs of this world to co-operate, and the 
" great work will soon be accomplished. There 
" are troubles enough in this vale of tears, with- 
" out there being dissensions and disunion in the 
" Christian faith. Once remove the bar against 
" a ' general union,' and the many nations in 
" Asia, Africa, Europe and America, would em- 
" brace the Christian faith. Let us show to the 
" whole world, that it is still the same as it 
" was when instituted by our Saviour ; let us 
" act up to the Credo, and the great object will 
" be gained ; every body will say that the Chris- 
" tian faith is as true as is the sun, whose light 
" beams upon us ; and that in the name of our 
" Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen." 

Thus ended this eloquent address, which I have 
given at full length, for the purpose of showing 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 121 

the pure sentiments of religion which these truly 
Christian fathers possessed. 

Soon after I had returned to my parish, the in- 
habitants of those mountains, residing near the 
caverns, in which were the mysterious noises, re- 
ported that some extraordinary sounds were again 
heard ; I of course was induced to go and witness 
it. I remained for a long time listening to them, 
which were exactly as I have already described ; 
but not being satisfied, I ventured to walk to- 
wards an opening, which descended towards the 
quarter from whence the greatest noise proceeded, 
and where there seemed a very strong current of 
air, and with reports like heavy artillery : ab- 
sorbed with astonishment at such a noise, I ven- 
tured a few steps further, when the current of air 
suddenly gashing forth from one of the air-holes 
on my right overpowered me and carried me 
away with great violence ; I still kept on my legs, 
but I felt that I was carried along by the cur- 
rent of air as swiftly as a bird could fly, and fast 
approaching the dreadful reports of artillery, 
when I had just time to reflect how imprudent I 
had been to venture so far ; thinking that I was 
near the end of my days, I hastily recommended 
myself to the mercy and will of God, but had not 
much time even to employ my thoughts upon 
this, when I felt a most violent shock in my 
whole body, and was suddenly hurried away by 



122 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

a kind of whirlwind, accompanied with con- 
tinued explosions ; from that moment I lost my 
ground, and felt myself hurled away in the air 
with such a velocity, that I should have been 
suffocated had I not kept my mouth open. I 
thus continued to be carried away by the sub- 
terranean hurrican for a good hour, when I felt 
that I was sinking very fast, and the force of the 
current was diminishing, but still it continued to 
carry me along. I now began to see daylight, 
and fell all at once into water, slightly impreg- 
nated with salt; I swam towards the opening, 
and saw, to my great consolation, that I was in 
some unknown sea, and in the distance a wild 
shore covered with trees ; I made for the nearest 
point and there I rested myself: it must have 
been about noon, as the sun was high, and 
cheered me by his warm rays. I observed flocks 
of birds flying, and many deer, of the antelope 
kind, grazing on the grass; they were so tame 
that I easily secured one ; for I began to feel very 
hungry, but would not kill it yet, so I tied its 
legs with my handkerchief. After having dried 
myself as well as I could, I slung the animal 
over my shoulders and proceeded towards a hill 
covered with trees, from whence I might view 
what kind of country I was in. I had not gone 
a quarter of a mile, when I was roused by a 
dreadful barking of dogs, as if they were hunting- 
some wild beasts ; and strange to say, the animal 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 123 

on my back seemed to answer, as if^calling the 
dogs, which I did not like at all; and between 
fear and precaution, as I heard them fast ap- 
proaching, I thought it better to secure some 
safe retreat, and fortunately I saw a tolerably 
large pear tree, with ripe fruit on it ; I laid down 
my prize in the grass, and hastily climbed up 
the tree ; and behold, I was scarcely secure in 
my position, about twelve feet from the ground, 
and was beginning to taste the pears, when my 
prisoner began to bleat still louder, and six huge 
dogs came up full speed, barking in a frightful 
manner, not at the poor animal, but at me ; they 
were of the size of our Newfoundland dogs ; the 
largest of them tried to make a most desperate 
jump at me, so I climbed up two feet higher, 
when, to my greatest surprise, I saw one of the 
dogs biting my handkerchief in two, and libe- 
rating the antelope, which, as soon as it was free, 
went off like lightning towards its flock. The 
dogs, however, beset the tree which I was in, — 
as if I were a wild beast which they wanted to 
hunt. One of them seized my hat and ran off 
with it ; the others seized my coat, tore it to 
pieces, and hurried away, which I was very 
glad of, since they would most likely have killed 
me if I had descended. The first thing I did was 
to try and appease my hunger with some pears ; 
but I was again roused by the same barking, and 
two dogs again placed themselves under the tree, 



124 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

and kept guard upon me ; I took some of the 
hardest pears and pelted them, but they did not 
at all mind it. After having been perched on 
the pear tree for a long time, I heard the sound 
of a discordant bugle, and soon after perceived 
six men marching towards me with their fowling 
pieces slung round their shoulders ; their dress 
was not unlike the Sbirri of Verona and Udine, 
in Italy. The man in front was rather tall ; and 
near him was sculking an urchin, with a most 
clownish appearance, holding his mouth wide 
open, so that I might have chucked a pear into 
it. They both walked like ploughmen when 
their feet are covered with huge large clods of 
earth ; the other four individuals I had no time 
to examine closely ; the first man addressing me 
in these terms, " Don't you know that I can 
have you transported for trespassing on my 
ground;" the boy repeated the word "Trans- 
ported," turning with a vacant look to the four 
men behind him, as if he were seeking their ap- 
proval. The same man then raised his voice, 
resembling a cracked pitch pipe, and said, " Sir, 
you have been damaging this tree, I shall have 
you indicted for felony," and he bid me " come 
down immediately ;" before I descended, I told 
him that I had been cast on these shores from 
the waters of yonder cave, and that I came from 
the country of the New Jerusalem. " Aye, aye, 
you are a poacher, I shall have you transported ;" 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 125 

and the boy immediately repeated again very 
loud, " Yes, transported." I then came down, 
and the man searching me, found some papers in 
the side pocket of my waistcoat, written in Ger- 
man, English, French, Italian, Spanish and 
Latin. His countenance suddenly changed; he 
called his boy aside, and after apparently con- 
sulting with him, he came to me, saying in an 
obliging manner, " Sir, you would answer very 
well as a tutor for my three sons ; if you like to 
accept of that situation, I shall be glad to em- 
ploy you." I was very glad at the sudden change 
in his language, and accepted of the offer; he 
promised me money equal to 200/. per year, and 
a comfortable house, and even a reward, if I 
should please his eldest son, turning towards 
him, who was evidently looking at me, to receive 
a mark of homage from me, to whom I cordially 
bowed, and said that I hoped we should be very 
good friends together, but he did not seem to 
like what I said. His father took me to his 
residence, which was splendidly furnished, and 
looked like a nobleman's castle. After having 
obtained some clothes from the neighbouring 
town, Mr. Shrokileys introduced me to his three 
sons, who were just at dinner with what appeared 
to be their nurse. The boy of about sixteen 
years of age I have already described; the 
second was in his thirteenth year, and the third 
in his eleventh year ; they both had rather pro- 



126 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

mising features. When I entered the room the 
father introduced me to them. The nurse, who 
sat at table, got up immediately, and staring at 
me, left the room in rather a sullen manner; 
but her figure is certainly worth while describ- 
ing ; her height was about three feet six inches ; 
her head was large, with her nose sunk in be- 
tween her eyes, and so cruelly turned up, that 
she could not keep her spectacles upon it ; 
her hands were a mass of fat, and the fingers so 
short, that she could scarcely hold any thing ; 
she was always asthmatically inclined, and her 
feet were much like the paws of a bear. She was, 
however, held in great veneration by Mrs. Shroki- 
leys, since she had been brought up by her, 
and for other reasons which I shall not mention 
here. 

Mr. Shrokileys was the son of a very wealthy 
organ maker, which was the cause of his ex- 
traordinary voice. He had a brother, who, 
through his riches, tried to appear as a real gen- 
tleman by birth in society, but had no idea of 
distinguishing himself by noble and generous 
actions. 

There was also a step-brother, a man who had 
the good luck to marry a superior woman, who 
educated her children in such a manner as would 
do credit to any virtuous and intelligent woman 
in the world. What a contrast ! between the 
children of these two men; the former chiefly 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 127 

brought up by the mother- nurse,, and those of the 
latter by their own intelligent and tender mother! 
Here then I was now tutor to the three darling 
sons of Mr. Shrokileys. The first day of my com- 
mencing my duties, the eldest son appeared with 
a dog in his lap, the second one with a white cat, 
and the third with a huge torn cat; they sat 
down, the fond parent being present; I did not 
like to speak to them the very first day against 
the impropriety of having these animals with them 
during the hours of study, but determined to 
reform their manners by degrees. When the din- 
ner hoar came, the old nurse came to help the 
boys ; and as I w T as informed that it was custo- 
mary for her to sit with them, I wished her to 
continue that practice, to which Mr. Shrokileys 
objected ; but alas ! from that moment the old 
nurse became my implacable enemy, which I 
did not like at all, since I perceived that she and 
not Mrs. Shrokileys managed the whole affairs of 
the house, and my forebodings proved but too 
true. The first night when I lay down on my 
apparently comfortable bed, I found myself two 
hours afterwards in a complete fever, owing to the 
damp sheets that had been given to me ; what 
could I do, it was one o'clock in the morning 
when I found myself in that state. I did not know 
what course to pursue, and was actually afraid to 
speak to Mrs. Shrokileys on the subject, as I saw 
that implicit faith was placed in my friend,, old mo- 



128 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

ther nurse, and that it would be no use speaking 
against her. The consequence was, that I con- 
tracted a rheumatic fever, with severe pains in 
my left side, and it took me many days to get 
quite well again. 

In the course of a week I found a great change 
in Mr. Shrokileys's conduct towards me. I saw 
myself completely under the control of the old 
nurse, who annoyed me in every way. It was 
my custom to rise early, and take an hour's walk 
before breakfast, after which I gave the boys 
their lessons. This life I led for six months; I 
never partook of any supper, but at eight o'clock 
a boy used to bring in a rushlight, and I withdrew 
to my bed-room at the very top of the house, over 
which was a reservoir of water which supplied 
the whole house ; the consequence of which was 
that the walls of my room were quite damp, and 
it penetrated even to the closets on the ground-floor. 
I was then quite aware that the nurse would annoy 
me and make me as uncomfortable as she liked, 
and I really think that some one or other attempted 
to destroy me by indirect means. One night I 
awoke with great anguish and oppression, finding 
my room full of thick smoke proceeding from the 
dust of ignited charcoal, w 7 hich had been placed 
in my fire-place, the chimney having been pro- 
bably stopped up. Another time the nurse helped 
me to some gravy of roast beef, of which I was very 
fond, and in which I nearly swallowed a crooked 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 129 

hair pin ; and a third tintfe I nearly swallowed 
another pin that had been maliciously thrown 
into my beverage, but against all which the 
Almighty had most mercifully preserved me. 
Whatever improvements I wished to make in the 
education of the boys, the nurse immediately op- 
posed them, from the power which she had over 
Mrs. Shrokileys, so that I ultimately gave up 
all idea of educating them, and I determined 
on quitting Mr. Shrokileys as soon as an oppor- 
tunity should offer. By that time I also found 
out that Mr. Shrokileys possessed in reality a 
most unfeeling heart. Many of the poor that 
were on his estate were threatened with trans- 
portation, and many of them turned out of their 
houses without any relief; often did I follow those 
unfortunate people and relieve them to the best 
of my means, with tears in my eyes. One day I 
happened to be at the window,, looking into the 
yard, when I saw a poor man collared by Mr. 
Shrokileys, and turned out of his yard; I threw 
myself on my bed, and was much affected, but 
firmly determined to quit that cruel family as 
soon as I possibly could. 

One day in the month of January, when a sud- 
den frost had set in, and the snow was lying deep 
on the ground, I observed to Mr. Shrokileys that 
the poor in the neighbourhood must be suffering 
very severely with the inclement weather; to 

K 



130 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

which he replied, with the greatest indifference, 
that his bailiff, who visited them, had informed 
him that they felt very comfortable during the 
night by creeping between the straw; and this 
man was considered to hold property equal to 
a million of pounds sterling. Thus I passed six 
months under the roof of that hard-hearted family, 
and not being able to endure it any longer, I left 
the house, and having heard of many adventures 
in the Dragon's Cave, not very far from where I 
then was, I resolved on entering it at all risks, 
taking with me a brace of pistols, a sword, and a 
pruning-knife, with provisions for several weeks, 
some boxes of rushlights and wax candles, and 
recommending myself to the mercy of kind Provi- 
dence, with the sweet hope of being thus again 
able to return to that blissful region of New Jeru- 
salem, which I shall never, never forget ! I wan- 
dered about in the cave for three days, when I 
began to see daylight, and arrived at a tranquil 
but deep river, that had its course in a ravine 
of about 100 feet in breadth, abounding with the 
same kind of animals which I used to feed upon 
when I had escaped from the band of robbers 
in the Grotto of Postoyna. I was immediately 
struck with the flattering idea that this river 
must issue into some of the seas washing the 
shores of the land that I sought. From that mo- 
ment I formed the plan of embarking on that 
river on a raft formed of the trunks of old trees 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 131 

which came now and then floating down it; I 
consequently secured two small pieces of timber, 
and fastened them with some ropes which I had 
taken with me for precaution's sake, in order to 
let myself down the precipices. Having remained 
five days in thus preparing myself for the new 
aquatic excursion, I at last shoved off with a firm 
hope of success, having always my trust in God. 
The river flowed gently on, and after six days and 
nights running nearly in the same direction, I 
came to another opening which looked like a lake, 
and which had two issues, into which the waters 
discharged themselves. I was then quite puzzled 
which course to steer, but the stronger current 
soon carried me away, and I saw myself again 
engulphed on the dark subterranean waters ; but 
my means of subsistence had nearly all vanished. 
I now had recourse to those curious amphibious 
animals which I had fed upon before. The twenty- 
first day of my new excursion I came into an- 
other kind of lake, apparently of a very large 
extent, and observed that the water lost itself 
in various outlets or holes, but the size of my 
raft saved me from passing through these places, 
and to my great surprise I saw also more above 
me, but which I could not possibly reach, situ- 
ated as I was. Having thus turned about, I 
happened to see an opening through which the 
water flowed, not above one foot in depth, and 

k2 



132 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

that I could conveniently creep through it where 
I thought I saw a light, and I imagined that I 
could always come back in case of need. I had 
scarcely proceeded five yards, when two otters 
brushed by me, which I touched, but which I 
did not think advisable to catch, and they has- 
tened towards the place where I had seen the 
light. I tried to overtake the animals, and was 
suddenly cast into an immense lake, into which 
the setting moon was dipping its last farewell 
rays, but there was yet light enough to distin- 
guish land on both sides of the water, the nearest 
of which must have been about a quarter of a 
mile, but which I was confident of reaching, being 
a good swimmer. The anxiety of saving myself 
made me forget to offer up my usual prayers to 
God whenever I was placed in such difficulties, 
and being almost sure of reaching the land now 
so near me, I postponed the prayers until I should 
come on terra firma; but too often when man 
thinks himself safest, he is then in the greatest 
danger. When I was about twelve yards from 
the shore,, and heard the waves striking gently 
against the beach, suddenly I saw two flashes of 
guns which were fired at me, and which both hit 
me in the shoulders, on the head, and about my 
eyes. Here the poor Orphan of Novogorod felt 
so overpowered by his feelings, and overcome by 
his dreadful wounds, that with one deep sigh he 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 133 

ceased to exist. It is 'much to be regretted that 
he did not live longer, as he would have most 
likely been able to disclose many secrets, and 
extremely interesting occurrences that he must 
have seen during his stay in New Jerusalem, 



134 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 



NINTH NARRATION. 

We left Egypt in September, 1807, and arriving 
in October of the same year at Messina,, sailed 
almost immediately with the great expedition 
under Lieut.-Gen. Sir John Moore for Lisbon ; 
but on our arrival at Gibraltar we learnt that the 
French had already taken possession of it; we 
therefore shortly afterwards sailed direct for Eng- 
land, and arrived at Spithead about the end of 
December. 

Our voyage to Messina was pleasant enough, 
but that from Messina to Gibraltar was far other- 
wise ; as it turned out one of the most tedious 
expeditions, and attended with many dangers. 
We continually had contrary winds, and were 
obliged to tack day and night; many of our 
transports, about seventy-five in number, ran the 
risk of being run down during the awfully dark 
and stormy nights between Sardinia and Gibral- 
tar; and those who have not witnessed such 
scenes, have no idea of the dangers to which a 
large fleet with troops must be exposed, as they 
are obliged to keep together in time of war. 

It was the last time that I served with Sir John 
Moore, who had taken with him a most excellent 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 135 

commissariat establishment, fit to serve effectively 
any active army of thirty thousand men. The 
whole of the commissariat staff had seen a great 
deal of active service in the Mediterranean, and 
had been trained by one of the ablest and most 
active commissariat officers the British will ever 
have, — the late Com.-Gen. Sir George Burgmann ; 
but, alas ! the chief commissariat officers that ac- 
companied Sir John Moore were foreigners ! viz. 
Dep.-Com.-Gen. Granet, Assist.-Com.-Gen. Ha- 
geman, Assist.-Com.-Gen. Schmidchen, Mr. Pec- 
co, Echauzier, Donatti, with a good number of 
established clerks, but who had just been sent 
out by the Treasury, and not any of them had seen 
any service. How far better would it have been 
had Sir John Moore insisted upon having his Si- 
cilian commissariat establishment to accompany 
him to Spain. It may be recorded, to the great 
credit of the late Sir George Burgmann, that no 
British commander-in-chief ever had the least 
reason to complain of the commissariat establish- 
ments that accompanied the various expeditions 
to Italy, Spain, and Egypt; and all the general 
officers then commanding spoke very highly of 
the manner in which all the duties of the com- 
missariat department were executed during the 
most urgent and trying occasions ; and who were 
the principal active commissaries composing the 
commissariat at that time ?— Com.-Gen. Burg- 
mann, Dep.-Com.-Gen. Granet, Dep.-Com.-Gen. 



136 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

Daniel, Dep.-Com.-Gen. Fernandes, Dep.-Com.- 
Gen. Schmidchen, Dep.-Com.-Gen. Verbeke, As- 
sistant Com.-Gen. Vidau, Acting Dep. -Assist. - 
Com. -Gen. Donatti, Assist. - Com. - Gen. Pecco, 
&c. &c. The returns from Her Majesty's Trea- 
sury will prove, that from 1805 to 1814, the most 
active duties were generally performed by fo- 
reigners, whose names have just been mentioned. 
From the observations made by me in the com- 
missariat establishment, I am induced to think 
that under the present circumstances the Treasury 
runs the risk of having but an ineffective field- 
commissariat establishment, and inferior to many 
European nations; which might be obviated by 
the following regulations : — 

1. To establish an academy for commissariat 
cadets, into which no one should be admitted 
without good certificates of having completed the 
first and regular course of classical education. 

2. To understand geography and natural his- 
tory perfectly well, and also to be good arith- 
meticians. 

3. To be versed in statistics. 

4. To be attached, at least for six months, to 
regiments serving in England, and to accompany 
them on their marches, &c. as assistant quarter- 
masters, before they can be eligible as commis- 
sariat clerks. 

5. To be well acquainted with the English, 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 137 

German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Illyrian or 
Russian, and Greek languages. 

6. Not to be allowed to marry until they attain 
the rank of Assistant Commissaries-General. 

7. The clerks to hold the rank of Lieut.-Dep.- 
Assist. -Com. -General, that of Capt. -Assist. -Com, - 
General, that of Maj.-Dep. -Com. -General, that 
of Col. -Com. -General, that of Major-General ; 
being thus entitled to all the military honours 
and allowances, and to sit in committees or courts- 
martial, according to the date of their commis- 
missions and appointments ; being thus also sub- 
ject to all the rules and regulations of the Articles 
of War and military etiquette, by which means 
any disagreeable feelings with the officers of the 
army would be at once obviated, and the service 
carried on with more zeal, accuracy, and inte- 
grity. 

Thus, as I have already said, the Mediterranean 
commissariat establishment found its way back to 
Sicily, where I rejoined Com. -Gen. Sir George 
Burgmann. The occupation of Sicily by the 
British troops will be an era which will never be 
forgotten either by the Sicilians or the British ; 
the best harmony prevailed between them. The 
Sicilians have displayed much devotion to the 
British, a circumstance which should not be for- 
gotten by any individual then composing the Bri- 
tish army. On the day of the landing of the 
French between Mille and Scaletta, the English 



138 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

troops leaving Messina to meet the French, were 
cheered by the Sicilians, and treated by them 
with refreshments. The peasants also displayed 
great attachment and fidelity to our troops, and 
by watching the movements of the French, who 
had landed, were fortunate enough to see where 
they had buried their colours, and assisted Lieut. 
Planta, of the De Roll's riflemen, to get posses- 
sion of them, which he consigned shortly after- 
wards to Lieut. -Col. A'Court, then aide-de-camp 
to the Adjutant- General, the late Major-Gen. 
Campbell, which colours had been deposited in 
the cathedral at Messina. Save this occurrence, 
and the occasional shots fired from the Scilla 
Point against our troops in the vicinity of the Faro 
di Messina, we had a most happy time of it, until 
the expedition to Spain. During our stay there, 
we witnessed two eruptions of Mount Etna. 

Messina is certainly the finest harbour in the 
whole island ; it carries on a great trade with 
Trieste in dry fruits, lemons, oranges, and olive 
oil. Sicily supplies Malta with all the neces- 
saries of life, and it may be said that these two 
islands owe their mutual prosperity on that head 
to Capt. Sir Alexander Ball, R. N., the late go- 
vernor of that island, who succeeded in establish- 
ing at Malta one of the best and most plentifully 
supplied markets in the world. The Marsalla 
and the white wines of Sicily are fiery, and have 
much sulphur in them. The red wines bear 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 139 

great improvement; the best of them are the 
Roccamadaro, of Mille, and Faro wines ; but in 
the plains between Taormina, Jacca, Villa Franca, 
Radazzo, is a far better wine, generally called 
Vino di Caletabiana. 

Catanea is perhaps the finest and cleanest town 
in Sicily, and where many of the rich nobility 
now reside. It might become a very important 
place, if the inhabitants would go to some expense 
in building a good harbour. In this city is one 
of the finest museums of antiquities ever seen, 
belonging to Prince Biscari, who is very attentive 
to all those who express a wish to visit his collec- 
tion. The Dominican convent, a remarkably fine 
one, contains about four hundred men ; its stairs 
are magnificent, being of a pure white marble, 
and the building altogether is in good taste, and 
shows grandeur and magnificence. The houses 
of Catanea in general have a noble aspect. 

Between Catanea and Syracuse are the famous 
marshes, where many of our officers found great 
sport in water-fowl ; but I am very sorry to say 
that several of the most promising of them found 
their death there, occasioned by the malaria fever. 

Augusta is an insignificant small fortified place, 
where there are oyster beds established. The 
town is full of rats, so much so, that the British 
commissariat found a great deficiency in corn, &c. 
occasioned by their ravages. 

Syracuse, so well known in the classical world,, 



140 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

deserves to be seen on account of its position, 
and for some antiquities; the places most de- 
serving of notice are the amphitheatre, Dionysius' 
Ear, and the Catacombs, which latter would 
amply repay a company of enterprising men, who 
should purchase that whole tract of ground, and 
proceed to explore those immense subterranean 
vaults, which would most likely lead to the dis- 
covery of great treasures, for in reading the an- 
cient history and origin of those catacombs we 
have ample field for such speculations : 

" Chi vuol il nociuolo rompa la noce, 
Chi non risica, non morsica." 

The coast from Syracuse to Cape Passaro is a 
most dreary one, and so also on the other side of 
the Cape. The resident English at Malta should 
not neglect Cape Passaro, as it might turn out 
to them a place of great resort both in winter 
and summer, from its being so very near, with 
the aid of steam-boats, and there is generally a 
smooth sea. It might become a great resource 
for people of all classes residing at Malta, during 
the Sundays, and also during the hot months of 
June, July, and August; and still more so for 
convalescents and persons of delicate health. 
The Maltese, as they have all their supplies of 
the necessaries of life from that point, even from 
gratitude should do something for the Cape, and 
they would greatly profit in a commercial point 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 141 

of view, and would certainly make it a much 
more important place : 

" Una mano lava 1' altra, e tutte due la faccia." 

Trapani and its environs are famous for the 
produce of wine, corn, and cattle ; and Girgente, 
also a rich country, is well known to the classical 
world. 

Palermo is only renowned for its being the re- 
sidence of the court, and from being the largest 
town in Sicily. It has a miserable harbour. The 
Favorita and the Marina di Palermo is certainly 
worth while seeing ; but as Palermo has scarcely 
any commerce, and as its position is very unfa- 
vourable during the hot months on account of the 
sirocco, I am induced to think that Messina will 
ultimately carry the prize as the capital of Sicily. 

It is greatly to be regretted that the public 
roads have been so long neglected in Sicily. 
What a prosperous island Sicily would become if 
her government would undertake to build rail- 
roads and public roads from Palermo to Catanea 
and Messina, and thence all round the island. 
The beautiful lands, the rich soil round Mount 
Etna, now lie buried in oblivion, and its worth 
unknown. The hardy peasants round Mount 
Etna would thus receive an impulse to be active 
and industrious, and the whole island would be 
regenerated, nay, it would become one of the 
wealthiest states in the Mediterranean. O Naples ! 



142 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

Naples! why dost thou so cruelly neglect the 
fairest and most promising of thy daughters : 

" Non odi consiglio, 
Soccorso non vuoi, 
E' guisto se poi, 
Non trovi pieta." 

The British troops in Sicily may well say, that 
during their stay there, they lived in clover, and 
were fed with milk and honey, without having 
much danger to encounter, except through a mi- 
serable conspiracy of a few Carbonari, who I am 
afraid had been encouraged by some abominable 
individuals, haunted by a bad spirit, and which 
ended in a gasconade of hanging. The poor mis- 
guided captain of the port of Messina was led to 
the gallows under sure promises that his pardon 
would come just when the rope was going to be 
secured round his neck, and whilst in that ex- 
pectation he was launched into eternity; thus 
the least guilty was sacrificed to the real con- 
spirators, who remained unknown. 

Whoever knew the Sicilians well at that time, 
must have been pretty sure that the French were 
utterly detested by the whole nation, and that 
had fifty thousand of them landed, they would 
have dwindled away in less than a twelvemonth : 

" Melius est timuisse modo, quam fcdere valde, 
Cauto et timido nulla procella nocet." 

Since the British army has been in Sicily, I 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 143 

must say the Sicilian nation has made very rapid 
strides towards civilisation, and are now almost 
the most liberal, civilised, and industrious people 
among the Italians. 

In 1809 we sailed on an expedition under 
Sir John Stuart to the coast of Naples, which I 
have already mentioned. We took possession of 
the delightful islands of Ischia and Procita, and 
frightened King Murat out of his wits, living 
there again in clover for nearly six weeks ; after 
that we again returned very peaceably to Sicily. 

In 1812 an expedition sailed from Palermo for 
Spain ; our rendezvous was at Port Mahon in 
Minorca, which little island is extremely healthy, 
and it is recorded by the health-officers there, 
that if ever any ships with unclean bills of 
health arrive there, that the contagion generally 
ceases three days afterwards. 

In the quail and woodcock seasons this island 
affords capital sport. The town of Port Mahon 
is a very pretty one, and the dress of the women 
in general very genteel and perfectly simple. 
They walk with particular grace, and without 
any affectation. There is not a single beggar to 
be seen in the streets. This island produces 
plenty of wine and corn for the population, and 
very fine honey. 

Majorca is close to Minorca, but of a much 
greater magnitude ; its soil is richer, and its in- 
habitants come already nearer to the Spaniards. 



144 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

There are very fine mules here, and both Minorca 
and Majorca are becoming every day more im- 
portant, chiefly owing to the French settlement 
at Algiers. 

Algiers and the whole northern coast of Africa 
is very interesting to a speculative mind ; for 
under the hands of a wise and active government 
it might become very flourishing, and bring back 
the prosperity and importance of ancient times. 
Spain, France, and Italy should go hand in hand, 
in order to obtain that object, which England 
ought to do on the south-west of Africa, and ac- 
celerate its civilisation,, and introduce and esta- 
blish the Christian religion in the very heart of 
that part of the world so long neglected ; for such 
noble efforts England, Spain, France, and Italy, 
nay, the whole of Europe, would soon be richly 
rewarded, and feel the most powerful and bene- 
ficial effects. The overgrown population of Eu- 
rope would find on the northern coasts of Africa 
a sweet and delightful territory, and God would 
surely bless such a work. 

To return to our expedition from Palermo to 
the coast of Spain. After having remained six 
weeks at Port Mahon, we sailed from Minorca, 
and were a few days afterwards off Palamos, 
when we displayed a manouvre at landing ; the 
troops all got into their boats and shoved off, but 
as soon as it got dark they returned and re-em- 
barked, and the fleet again got under weigh and 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOIIOD. 145 

steered more to* the southward ; and beating about, 
to the great discomfort of many of us who had 
been lately living so well, for we were now re- 
duced to salt pork and hard biscuit. The weather 
also began to be rather rough, which added a great 
deal to the misery of a crowded troop-ship. I hap- 
pened to be in the company with five staff officers, 
some of whom began to look very faint for want 
of some warm food, and as I counted myself also 
as one of those who did not feel quite comfortable 
with such a reduced diet, I thought of making us 
some einbrennsuppe, which certainly cheered us- 
up for the day. Its preparation is very simple. 
You first take some salt butter and make it hot, 
then add flour to it and keep it on the fire until it 
gets nicely brown, and having boiling water ready, 
pour it into the butter and flour, stirring it all the 
time. After this get a soup tureen, and put into it 
as much dry biscuit as you may think is sufficient, 
and pour the hot soup very quickly over it, cover- 
ing it up close afterwards ; let it remain so for 
eight or ten minutes, when the einbrennsuppe 
will be ready to be served out. Fortunately for us 
we got in sight of Alicant and landed in a few r 
hours afterwards, when we found the British Con- 
sul General P. C. Tupper, Esq. and the Spanish 
Divisions of Generals Whittingham and Roche, 
who all did their utmost to see us comfortably 
quarteredin Alicant. The exertions of Mr. Tupper, 
the British Consul General of Valencia, had gained 

L 



146 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

for us in Spain many friends, and inspired the 
Spaniards with great confidence in the British 
arms, which they invariably continued to prove 
till the very last day of our stay. Many English 
who have been in Spain have misconceived the 
worth of that nation, by not living on an intimate 
footing with them, and also from not being con- 
versant with the Spanish language ; and there are 
few Englishmen who knowing the language well 
will not agree with me that the Spaniards are an 
upright, honorable, persevering, and trustworthy 
nation. " Viva la Espaiia e vivan los Espafioles!" 
and that they deserve a better fate ; all that the 
Spaniards want, is to be left alone. 

" Viele Arzte sind des Kranken Tod." 

Mr. Tupper's proclamation to the Valencians, 
soon after the fall of Valencia, issued at Alicant, 
after touching upon the glorious enthusiasm dis- 
played by the Valencians at the period of the per- 
fidious seizure of their king at Bayonne, and the 
heroic resistance subsequently opposed to the 
enemy, calls upon them not to yield to the pres- 
sure of present calamities, but to follow the ex- 
ample of Catalonia, Arragon, and the other pro- 
vinces, and to rise in arms against their oppressors. 
" New authorities," says Mr. Tupper, "worthy of 
" your confidence, are about to arise. They will 
" give an energetic and brilliant impulse to your 
" valour and patriotism. Your resources are great? 
" the national spirit one. You will equal or excel 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 147 

' the Galliciahs or Catellans in disinterestedness, 
f enthusiasm, and virtue. They disdained to dis- 
' honor themselves with the slavish name of 
' Frenchmen, and will you, Valencians ! conduct 
' yourselves with less dignity and with less spirit 
' than they ? No ; from the present misfortunes 
' will spring up a sacred flame which will con- 
' sume your oppressors. In all parts there are 
' Spaniards ; and do not doubt that the happy 
' day of restoration of Valencia will yet arrive. 
' In Catalonia a formidable army is organizing ; 
' and General Lacy is besieging Tarragona. 
' Nearly all the interior of Spain is free from 
' enemies ; and the divisions of Mina, Duran, 
6 Empecinado, Amor, Alentijo, and others, appear 
' with a formidable aspect, and increase consider- 
' ably. In Alicant the army rejoins , and the 

■ English General Roche, in the service of Spain, 
( has undertaken to pay, clothe, and arm the gar- 
' rison, and every soldier that presents himself to 
' him ; who may soon be in a condition to combat 

the enemy, now proud of his conquest. In 
* Majorca formidable forces are organizing which 
' will soon triumph in the Peninsula. In Car- 
' thagena a new army is forming. In La Mancha 

■ is a numerous division in a respectable condi- 
i tion ; and the fortress of Las Pefias de San Pedro 
( is the bulwark of its liberty. General Ballas- 
1 teros continues victorious, his division increases 
( every day. Before Tariffa 3000 enemies have 

l2 



148 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

" been routed by Genearl Copons, and the Eng- 
" lish ; and the French have been obliged to raise 
" the siege of that fortress, losing all their artillery, 
" after a practicable breach had been opened, from 
" whence sallied the English Colonel Skerrett 
" with 2000 men. In Cadiz an army of more than 
" 30,000 men is rapidly organizing ; and the be- 
" sieging army confess with dismay that Cadiz is 
" impregnable. In Estramadura all the country 
" is free, (the enemy only possessing the spot on 
" which he stands) ; and its resources and troops 
" are put in action. Gallicia respires equally free, 
" and contains a numerous and warlike army. 
" Asturias, invaded for the fourth time by the 
" enemy, has obliged them to abandon that ancient 
" asylum of the liberty of Spain. In Castile is a 
" disciplined army under the command of General 
" Mendizabel ; and finally, the allied army under 
Ci the illustrious Wellington menaces the enemy 
" in various points, and occupies the greatest part 
" of his forces. Such is the state of the efforts of 
" the nation to secure its independence aud purge 
" its territory of a cruel, devastating and perfi- 
"clious enemy. And shall Valencia remain out 
" of the list of the valiant provinces, which do 
" honor to the nation ? Will she consent to be 
" blotted out of the map of Europe, and to see 
" herself attached to the great and usurped yoke 
" of Napoleon ? Valencians ! you have still an 
" opportunity, it is still in your power to choose 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 149 

" between the ignominy of becoming Frenchmen, 
" and the glory of calling yourselves Spaniards. 
" We cannot waver as to your noble reply, Spa- 
" niards we are, resounded on all sides, Catalonia, 
" Arragon, Loria, all Spain in fine give us an ex- 
" ample, and teach our duties. Re-unite then in 
u parties truly patriotic, according to the disposi- 
u tion of the Supreme Government, intercept the 
" enemy's convoys, and prevent the forced impo- 
" sitions of contributions, of devastation and plun- 
(C der. Whatever you seize from the enemy shall 
" be the patrimony of your valour, and the reward 
<c of your labours. All shall be for you, and for 
" your benefit, and that your intentions may be 
" prosperous, you may proceed to the City of Ali- 
Ci cant, where will be delivered to you by my 
"hands, arms, stores, and all things needful, 
" which the generous English nation offer you. 
" The confidence which I have felt in you, re- 
(< mains engraven in eternal characters in my 
" heart ; and as I was one of the first to unite 
" myself with you to forward your noble cause, 
" so will I be the last to abandon it, and my ef- 
" forts shall be redoubled until the national inde- 
" pendence is obtained. Sustaining your just 
" cause, I shall have had the satisfaction of ful- 
" filling the most precious of my duties. 

" Valencians ! I shall not detain you to make 
" known my proclamations to the soldiers in the 
" French army, to encourage desertion among 



150 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

" them. To every German, Pole, Swiss, Italian, 
" &c. that presents himself will be given a gra- 
" tuity of twenty dollars and clothing, with liberty 
" to go wherever he pleases. By these means we 
" may hope to weaken the force of the enemy, to 
" deliver many unfortunate and brave men from 
" their hands, and to restore them to their own 
" country." 

" Alicant, February 14th, 1812." 

(Signed) " P. C. Tupper." 

We were well received by all the inhabitants 
of Alicant, in short by the whole country ; but 
alas, many places were found devastated by the 
French, which gave a double taciturnity to the 
generally innate taciturn character of the Spa- 
niards, and I must say, from my own experience, 
that the poor fellows did their utmost, they were 
all true towards the British, and the only pity 
was that so few English understood their lan- 
guage; and I could not help feeling regret on 
the seeing that mutual taciturnity between the 
English and the Spaniards, proceeding from the 
same reasons. The British staff officers generally 
wore a Spanish cockade on the English, and all 
encouraged the shout, Viva El Rey Fernando, Viva 
la Constitution, Viva la Espana. 

What British officer would ever have dreamt 
that two years after this in itself most harmless 
constitution should be burnt by that very Ferdi- 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 151 

nand, for whom the poor, loyal, and faithful Spa- 
niards had entirely devoted themselves ? 

" Chi la fa, l'aspetti." 

calling subsequently on that same nation to put 
down that constitution which but a few years ago 
caused so much English and Spanish blood to be 
shed ; but the justice of the Almighty soon fell 
upon the French, and planted that very standard 
of constitution in Paris, which they were so busy 
to put down in Spain with their bayonets. This 
is the second lesson to France not to meddle in 
other nation's affairs, for if the French had not 
sent their troops to support the revolted provinces 
against England in North America, the first French 
revolution would perhaps never have taken place. 

" Di quello che non ti cale, 
Non dir ne ben ne male." 

When it is recollected that 8000 British bay- 
onets were opposed to 50,000 French in Anda- 
lusia, and a further force of 24,000 men to the 
north commanded by Napoleon's best generals, 
few I think would expect more from us than 
what we had done. By our vigilance and valour, 
we kept in check Suchet, and induced him to 
attack us at Castalla, where for the first time he 
saw himself beaten, and was obliged to retreat on 
the 13th of April, 1813. It was as glorious a day 
for the British troops as any in Spain, though on 
a smaller scale. We had double the number of 



152 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

the French, both in infantry and cavalry, opposed 
to us ; but the recollections of that action was of 
course obliterated by many other glorious vic- 
tories gained about that time by the Duke of 
Wellington, whose gallant career was rapidly 
approaching that zenith where it has ever re- 
mained : 

" Frisch gewagt ist halb gewonnen, 
L'occhio del padrone ingrassa il Ca/vallo, 
Fortuna e dormi." 

Who then could stand against such an extra- 
ordinary hero of the times ? yet our brave little 
army in the south of Spain should not be entirely 
forgotten. The French themselves acknowledged 
on several occasions that they did not expect to 
fight against such brave and active troops as ours 
were; and to show the high estimation in which 
we were regarded, I shall insert here the general 
orders from Castalla. 

" Head Quarters, 
" Castalla, 14th April, 1813. 

" Lieutenant-General Sir John Murray con- 
" gratulates the army he has the honour to com- 
" mand on the result of the action which took 
" place yesterday. 

" Marshal Suchet collected his whole force for 
" the express purpose of destroying this army, 
" trusting to the good fortune which has hitherto 
" attended his arms. He has been defeated, and 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 153 

" forced to retreat by a small portion of it. The 
" Lieutenant-General requests the officers and 
" soldiers of corps engaged to accept his best 
" thanks for their gallantry, and assures them 
" that he will not fail to draw the attention of 
" His Royal Highness the Prince Regent and the 
" Spanish government to the brave spirit and dis- 
" cipline which were so eminently displayed. As 
" the reports from the officers commanding divi- 
" sions of what passed immediately under their 
" direction have not reached the Lieutenant-Ge- 
" neral, he is obliged to defer the great tribute of 
ie applause to those corps and individuals who 
" have been fortunate to find an opportunity of 
" distinguishing themselves. But from Sir John's 
" own observation, he is fully authorized to hold 
" up to every army in Europe the conduct of 
" Colonel Adam and his brave corps on the 12th 
" and 13th instant, as an example worthy of ap- 
" plause and imitation ; and he has the satisfac- 
" tion of expressing in no less degree of appro- 
" bation the conduct of Major-General Whitting- 
" ham and his gallant troops in the action of the 
" 13th. 

" The Lieutenant- General has much satisfac- 
" tion in conveying his approbation of the spirit 
" displayed by every other part of the army on 
" the 12th and 13th instant. 

" They had not the fortunate lot of the advance 
*' and General Whittingham, but it was very evi- 



154 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

" dent, had the enemy waited the attack on the 
" 13th in the plains of Castalla, that he would 
" have found the same spirit to have existed 
" through the whole allied army. 

" The Lieutenant-General has experienced ever 
" since he has held this honourable command 
" every support and assistance from the general 
" officers and brigadiers of the army, and he is 
" happy that an opportunity has been afforded 
" him of expressing that gratitude which he deep- 
" ly feels. Nevertheless he is indebted to the 
" general staff of the army for their cordial sup- 
" port, and the cheerful alacrity with which every 
" part of the service is performed. In mentioning 
" the general staff of the army, Sir John Murray 
" feels he should be wanting in justice if he omit- 
" ted the name of Major-General Donkin, to 
" whom he feels most particularly indebted. The 
" Lieutenant-General has now only pointedly to 
" express his approbation of the artillery corps 
" engaged in every part, and to assure Captain 
" Arabin, that so far from finding the slightest 
" ground of censure for the loss of the two moun- 
" tain guns, he highly approves the spirit and 
" motives which induced him to keep them in 
" their position till it became impossible in their 
" crippled state to remove them. 

" Deep as every soldier must feel the loss of 
" the brave comrade who may fall, it is a con- 
" solation to think that the allied army has, in 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 155 

" comparison with that of the enemy, suffered in 
" number at least a trifling loss." 



" Head Quarters, 
" Castalla, 25th April, 1813. 

" The Lieutenant-General Sir John Murray, in 
" the orders of the 14th instant, deferred naming 
" the officers who particularly distinguished them- 
" selves on the 12th and 13th instant. It is now 
" with the greatest pleasure that he is enabled, 
" from the reports of Colonel Adam and Major- 
" General Whittingham, to do what he wished to 
" do in the first instance. Colonel Adam has 
" mentioned in the strongest terms the gallantry 
" and behaviour of every part of his corps on the 
"12th; and Lieutenant - Colonel Reeves, and 
" Major Carey, Captains Jacks, Arabin, Brown, 
" and Leader, will be pleased to parade their re- 
" spective corps, and assure them that their con- 
" duct is highly approved and applauded. Those 
" officers will be pleased to accept Sir John Mur- 
" ray's thanks for the noble example they set 
" their men, by the gallantry and spirit they dis- 
" played on the 13th instant. The second bat- 
" talion 27th regiment was fortunate enough to 
" have another opportunity of displaying itself, 
" and distinguished, in a charge which drove the 
" enemy opposed to it from the heights, that 



156 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

" energy and discipline which must ever insure 
" success. On that day, the 1st Italian Levy 
" and Calabrian Free Corps nobly supported the 
" character they had established on the evening 
" before. 

" Major-General M'Kenzie has reported the 
" good conduct of the rifle and light infantry 
" companies of De Roll's, and the light infantry 
" company of Dillon's regiment, under the com- 
{i mand of Captain Miiller, and the other officers 
" belonging to those companies, will accept and 
" communicate to their men his thanks for their 
"gallantry during that day. Major- General 
u Whittingham, in his report to the Lieutenant- 
" General, applauds the conduct of the division 
" under his command, and has in a particular 
" manner noticed the services of Colonels Casara, 
" Romero, Campbell, Costeros, and Lieutenant- 
" Colonel O'Shea, and the troops under their 
" command. He expresses himself much indebt- 
" ed to Lieutenant-Colonel Castinelli, who was 
" attached to him during the action, and Colonel 
" Serrano, chief of his staff. The Lieutenant- 
" General requests these officers to accept his 
" thanks for their gallant conduct. The last at- 
" tack made by the riflemen and flankers of the 
" 4th and 6th battalions King's German Legion, 
" and the regiment of Royal Sicilian Grenadiers, 
" and the regiment of Estero under Captain Heise, 
u 4th battalion King's German Legion, was very 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 157 

" spirited, and reflects great credit on these de- 
" tachments for supporting so unequal a contest 
" for so considerable a length of time." 



Marshal Suchet found it advisable to leave us 
unmolested after the above truly brilliant action ; 
and when we paid him a visit in Catalonia, he 
was again obliged to bow in submission to the 
superior bravery and experience of our generals, 
Lord William Bentinck, and Sir William Clinton. 
After falling upon our advance at Ordal, he 
marched to the plains of Villa Franca, where he 
attacked our left wing with his whole cavalry, 
consisting of double our number; but finding 
that his cavalry was completely thrown back by 
ours, would not give us battle, and was glad to 
retreat to Villa Franca, and withdraw again to 
Barcelona. The aide-de-camp of the French ge- 
neral, who commanded on that day the French 
cavalry, declared to me shortly after he had been 
taken, that he thought our cavalry much stronger 
in number on account of the brisk charges we 
made against them, whereas it is well known that 
the French cavalry amounted to about 1500, and 
ours to only 600 men or thereabouts. As I had 
many opportunities of being in the interior of 
Valencia, Murcia, La Mancha, Cuenca, and Ca- 
talonia, I frequently conversed with the inhabit- 



158 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

ants, who invariably had been severe sufferers 
from the French army and theirjfollowers. The 
poor Spaniards candidly told me, that the French 
did not behave so bad to them as some troops of 
their foreign legions, which I must forbear men- 
tioning. In the beginning of 1814, the war in 
Europe was at an end. But the sudden change 
of politics in Spain completely changed the opi- 
nions and hearts of men ; and I, who before had 
so much wished to be in Spain, had now a hearty 
desire to quit it. I could not help thinking, in 
my oppressed mind, that the Almighty, who 
never forsakes a just and honest man who puts 
his entire trust in him, would not desert noble 
but devoted Spain, 'and eventually would crown 
her honest efforts with full success. The Ger- 
mans and English are called persevering, but I 
think that the Spaniards possess a great portion 
of that good quality : 

11 Sii giusto, ama Dio, e non temer nulla." 

By the middle of June, the British troops on 
service in Europe were either in Italy or in Eng- 
land ; when, to the surprise of the whole world, 
in the month of March, 1815, Napoleon sacrificed 
for the last time his remaining friends in France 
to his Machiavelian principles, and, like a mad- 
man, ventured to return from Elba. The Romans 
wisely said, 

" Quern Deus vult perdere, dementat." 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 159 

, As every sound judging man might have sup- 
posed, the very first news of Napoleon's Quixotic 
expedition from Elba, did not quite succeed in 
at once blowing off the face of the earth the vic- 
torious and very numerous armies of England, 
Austria, Russia, Prussia, together with those of 
the German states. Napoleon sealed his own 
fate by his rashness, into which he was certainly 
led by his marshals. Had he only quietly waited 
another year at Elba, he might perhaps have filled 
the present place of Louis Phillipe in France. 
When Napoleon abdicated, I was told by a very 
great partisan of his, that he would soon come 
back to France, and from what I had subsequently 
learnt, there is not the least doubt that his mar- 
shals actuated him to make that premature step, 
which blasted for ever all his prospects, and it fur- 
ther convinces me that Napoleon was a man of a 
very limited foresight, as his invasions of Russia 
and Spain and his last wildgoose chase to France 
completely prove. He seldom operated on sure 
grounds, but generally trusted to his good luck 
and rapid quick movements, yet he ought to 
have grown a little more cautious, as he must 
have been perfectly aware of his utter ruin in 
case of the least reverse. 

When Napoleon gave himself over into the hands 
of the English, he should have remembered how 
many fathers of high English families, heunlawfully 
detained as prisoners, andtherefore he could expect 



160 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

little mercy in return ; and that he would never 
have done, could he have had a chance of es- 
caping to America. The treatment which Napo- 
leon received at Elba was very magnanimous on 
the part of all the European monarchs, and how did 
he reward them ? and yet he was treated with every 
attention and respect at St. Helena. Napoleon was 
undoubtedly a great general, and his name will 
be handed down to the remotest ages. His fate 
should be a warning for men to be faithful sub- 
jects, and for monarchs to endear themselves to 
their people. When we look at countries with 
a republican form of government, after all they 
cannot do without rulers, and do not these rulers 
exercise the same kind of authority as sovereigns? 
It is only another name for it, and no country can 
eventually prosper unless there is a head to rule 
and direct. Radicalism is therefore only a chi- 
mera, a phantom produced by shallow and igno- 
rant people; the word of liberty which has caused 
so many useless disturbances in various states, 
and which are ultimately obliged to return to the 
great principle of having a ruler or director of the 
state. Let us look to the United States, are not 
her laws nearly similar to those of England and 
Austria, yet it is called a Republic, and this so- 
styled republic is nothing else but a constitutional 
government, and the president a temporary ruler 
or king, the senators the peers of England, or the 
magnates of Hungary. I maintain from experience, 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 161 

that that kingdom, state, empire or republic is the 
most free and happy which has the mildest and 
most protecting laws, by which general freedom 
and protection is indiscriminately administered. 
Cromwell, Washington, and Napoleon, have con- 
firmed the above opinion by their subsequent ac- 
tions. Canning and Talleyrand, with many very 
enlightened statesmen yet living, confirm it in our 
modern times : 

<f Felice colui, che impara a spt^e altrui." 

Many in various countries call out that England 
has seen her happiest days. And why do they 
say so ? because they see that she has lately neg- 
lected her best and only friends, and because she 
treats her colonies and some of her most hardy 
and valuable subjects with neglect. 

A certain false and very dangerous principle has 
crept into the English system of economy, that of 
curtailing the small salaries of her minor public 
servants, and rescinding the long and hard earned 
emoluments of many of her faithful and old ser- 
vants by making certain bargains with them. At- 
tention to such trivial minutiae would be well 
avoided, for such petty economy is hardly com- 
patible with the proud position that England 
holds among the nations of the world. Why should 
not Ireland be placed at once upon the same footing 
as England ? I fear the reason is, that the greater 
part of the Irish population is Catholic, and what 

M 



162 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

of that ? Do not the many enlightened English 
travellers and statesmen, who travel throughout 
Europe, observe that all the present Catholic ge- 
neration on the continent is entirely changed, and 
far more enlightened and liberal in their religious 
principles than even many Protestants in England. 
Let us look at Spain and Portugal; countries once 
so bigoted, how they are emerging from their 
former darkness. 

Again, let us look at the German Catholic States 
and those of Italy. There is a general catholic 
faith rising which will unite all sects, and may the 
Almighty inspire the prelates of all Christian per- 
suasions to be indulging, forbearing, and compas- 
sionate towards each other, and let them recollect 
that Jesus Christ said " be united and I shall send 
you my Father's blessing." And let them also re- 
member his emphatic words, " and there shall be 
one fold and one shepherd." I must now direct 
the attention of my reader to the New World. 

Manv who do not know Canada, its inhabi- 
tants, and its resources, formerly la nouvelle 
France, speak with great indifference of that 
most valuable colony and province, which steam 
navigation has brought so near to her mother 
country. I have been there during five years as 
a commissary, and sometimes a farmer and a 
sportsman, and have resided at Montreal, Wil- 
liam Henry, and Quebec. From being conver- 
sant with French, I had frequent opportunities of 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 163 

studying the character of the French Canadian 
nation, and I found them superior to the French in 
every respect. During my stay amongst them, I 
found that the Canadians were very much attached 
to the English ; and I never heard them utter a 
bad word against them, and perhaps one of the 
greatest proofs was the manner in which they 
upheld the Protestant church in equal venera- 
tion with their own. God alone knows what 
could have induced those once peaceful and 
happy inhabitants to take up arms against Eng- 
land, for which country those very same Cana- 
dians had formed a most effective militia force of 
32,000 men, which were employed against the 
United States during the last war, and upon 
which England could depend with as much con- 
fidence as upon her own militia at home, to 
which all English officers then in Canada can bear 
testimony. To produce however such a change 
in the French Canadian nation, there must have 
been very galling provocations, and the parlia- 
ment of Great Britain should look into it with 
more zeal than it has hitherto done. 

The resources of Canada are of the greatest 
importance to England, as it is a very fine and 
rich country, from whence England could draw 
timber, corn and cattle, and enliven commerce 
to a very great extent, and thus do immense good 
to her manufacturing population at home ; but, as 
things stand now, commerce is entirely monopo- 
ly 2 



164 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

lised by a few wealthy merchants connected with 
that country. To prevent any further collision 
with parties in Canada, parliament should de- 
clare that province a kingdom, nominating and 
elevating all the seigneurs to the rank of Cana- 
dian barons, free of all fees, and appointing one 
of the members of the royal family viceroy. 

English settlers should be introduced amongst 
the French Canadians, which point I think has 
been hitherto entirely neglected ; and both the 
French and the English languages should be 
used in parliamentary sittings and in all public 
transactions, since the French Canadians being 
a separate nation, are fully entitled to this, as 
they have been in the country for upwards of 
forty-two years, and certainly have strong claims 
to it. 

What an advantage would it be to establish 
English free schools in all villages and towns of 
Lower Canada, and to lay the foundation of a 
fund in England by an act of parliament, for the 
purpose of boarding and clothing 100 young- 
Canadian students at the various universities 
in England, who, having already distinguished 
themselves by their talents and application in 
their own country, might by these means com- 
plete their education in England, and then re- 
ceive public situations in Canada. And were the 
English government more liberal in grants of land 
to all British civil and military officers in Upper 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 165 

Canada ; and in short, to uphold her dignity 
more than it has hitherto been done, it would 
eventually yield ample revenues to Great Britain. 
I will conclude these few remarks by laying 
before the reader a letter I addressed to General 
Lord Hill, the Commander-in-chief, and to the 
Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury, 
during the period when the last unfortunate revo- 
lution broke out in Canada. 

" 29, Great Marlborough Street, 
24 January, 1838. 

" My Lord, 

" Having heard that some of her Majesty's 
" troops are under orders for Canada, where I 
" have served nearly five years as a deputy-as- 
" sistant-commissary-general, and during which 
" time I had very frequent opportunities of ex- 
" amining the woods and the country in general of 
" Lower Canada, and have conceived the follow- 
" ing ideas in case of a war breaking out in that 
" country, which I beg leave to submit to your 
" lordship's high consideration. 

" 1. By dint of steam carriages the war could 
" be carried on with great success in the heart of 
" winter from the gulph of St. Lawrence to the 
" farthermost settlements of Upper Canada, and 
" it would not be the first time that a battle has 
" been fought on the ice. 

" 2. Even now the despatches would be then 



166 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

" conveyed from the gulph of St. Lawrence to 
" Quebec and Montreal. 

" 3. That the steam carriages could be landed 
" on the ice in the gulph of St. Lawrence, and 
" proceed on that ice-railroad made by kind 
" Providence to Quebec, with an astonishing 
" rapidity, carrying with them men, fuel, amrau- 
" nition and provisions ; nay, there could be car- 
" ried on a commercial intercourse in winter be- 
" tween England and Montreal. 

" 4. The carriages should be built in the shape 
" of flat boats, and so fixed by sliding bolts to 
" the hulls of the trees of sledges seven feet 
" in breadth, which would prevent them from 
" upsetting; these carriages should have move- 
" able covers, made of light iron sheeting, so 
" that when taken off they could also serve as 
" shades or light boats in case of need. The 
u said carriages could then be successfully em- 
" ployed as pontoons to construct bridges over 
" the river and places where the ice might give 
" way or be broken. 

" 5. The troops acting in Canada should be pro- 
" vided with strong and very short broad swords, 
" which are almost indispensable when crossing 
" the woods or bivouacking in them ; their utility is 
" incalculable ; they are a comfort to the soldier, 
" he can chop the fuel and construct his own 
" hut with it ; they should have small plain hel- 



THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 167 

" mets to pass through the thickets, short mus- 
" kets, woollen socks or stockings, which prevent 
" their getting frost bitten, Blucher boots with- 
" out heels, and the soles sewed inside and 
" rounded, because the forests there are full of 
" old decayed stumps and trees, between which 
" any troops acting would lose their shoes. 

" 6. Their cloaks ought to be made in the 
" shape of those of the Canadian voyagers, with 
" comfortable breast pockets ; their pouches 
" girded round their waist ; their knapsacks 
" ought to be saml ler and rounded on their 
" sides, in order to facilitate the men to make 
" their way through those thick woods. 

" 7. Every regiment acting in Canada ought 
" to be provided with a company of pioneers 
" instead of grenadiers, to facilitate the quick 
" movements through the woods ; there being 
" only an open space of about forty or fifty acres 
" and then wood. There is scarcely ever any 
" need of cavalry in Canada during the summer 
" season ; nay, it is rather an incumbrance there, 
" the same might be said of the artillery ; but in 
" winter both the artillery and cavalry could 
" act on the ice with great success ; and the Ca- 
" nadian ponies, of the size of the Transylva- 
" nian horses, on which the Austrian hussars 
" are mounted, could be employed, since those 
" gentle animals are inured to that climate and 



168 THE ORPHAN OF NOVOGOROD. 

" can remain on the open field during the coldest 
*£ night. 

" 8. It is to be regretted that so much public 
" money has been lavished on the Island of St. 
" Helena before Montreal, since it is commanded 
" on all sides. A very strong and important fort 
" ought to be erected on the excellent and com- 
" manding position on the heights, within gun- 
" shot of Montreal, which, in my humble opinion, 
" could be made stronger than Quebec, and serve 
" thus as a great point d'appui to the British 
" troops between Quebec and the upper country. 
" Should your lordship wish for any further and 
" more detailed information about what I had 
" the honour of submitting to you, I shall be 
" most happy to give any further explanation on 
" the different points alluded to in this letter 
i( whenever called upon. 

" I have the honour to be, 

" with the greatest respect, 
" your Lordship's 
" most obedient and humble servant, 
" Ls. Donatti, 

Late Deputy- Assistant-Commissary-General. 



THE END. 



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